Melbourne welcomes in 2018 with biggest ever firework display

Revellers in Melbourne have welcomed 2018 with the city’s biggest fireworks display.

While Sydney is generally known as the location for Australia’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, an estimated crowd of 350,000 came into the city for the midnight fireworks, following on from approximately 50,000 who came to the city’s Yarra Park for the 9.30pm fireworks

Commenting on the celebrations, City of Melbourne Councillor Kevin Louey stated “we threw an unforgettable party for more than 350,000 people who came into the city to enjoy the superb entertainment at our four live sites and the impressive midnight show which included an array of floral themed pyrotechnical delights including dahlias and palm trees.

“The focus of any major City of Melbourne event is safety (and) this NYE we boosted our security across the city.”

According to Councillor Louey, Victoria Police last night arrested 138 people in the north west and southern metro regions, with the majority of offences being for drinking, assaults and behavoural offences.

68 pyrotechnicians from around the world worked on the fireworks display with 14 tonnes of fireworks fired from 22 rooftops across the city.

Event cleaning started at 6pm on New Year’s Eve, with the major clean-up taking place from 4am to 9am on New Year’s Day

Councillor Louey added “an 80-person crew began cleaning the CBD before the first fireworks were even launched and the city is back looking its best this morning.

“It takes a year’s worth of hard work and meticulous planning to stage this world class event. On behalf of the people of Melbourne and the City of Melbourne, I want to thank the police, transport workers, paramedics, firefighters, security, volunteers, event staff and waste collectors who helped to make the celebrations safe and enjoyable.”

Victoria’s focus on tourism and major events has also seen Destination Melbourne announce the launch of a special three-day Executive Level version of the multi-award-winning Melbourne Tourism Leadership Program.

The program will run for three full days on 7th, 14th and 21st March 2018 with applications closing on 16th February 2018.

Click here for more information on the Melbourne Tourism Leadership Program. 

New Year's Eve fireworks images courtesy of the City of Melbourne.

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