New Years Eve 2021 Sydney Fireworks: Being Part of an Audience
BCM110 [Blog 1]
New Years is, without a doubt, my favourite holiday celebration. Something about the promise of a new chapter and the feelings of hope that linger in the air have always felt very special to me. Maybe you’ve had a really crappy year and you’re excited to put it behind you, or maybe it was an amazing year for you and you’re feeling grateful and bittersweet as the countdown begins and the fireworks climb into the sky, giving birth to a new 365 days.
After the year I’d had, I was looking forward to the 2022 New Year much more than previous years; An Eighteenth birthday spent in lockdown, an extremely disrupted final year of school spent mostly online, with our final exams being postponed twice, my friends and I decided we’d head to one of the vantage points near Sydney Harbour and watch the famous fireworks in person for a change. Two surveys in 2020 put losses at $345 million across the performing arts, so we were keen to see some live music. I’d seen the show in Sydney once before as a little kid, other years I’d usually spend at Wollongong’s fireworks or hosting a party in my backyard, lighting sparklers and jumping into our pool at midnight. So my friends Emma, Lilly and I decided we’d go a little bigger this year, seeing as this was also our first New Years Eve where we weren’t underage. We’d arranged to stay at a friend’s house close-by, planned our way into Barangaroo and the night began.
Being an idiot with my friend Emma, near the entertainment stage
Finally after two years, we bore witness to live music, attended a ticketed event and became a part of an audience. It was just nice to feel alive and be a part of something. The venue was set up so that you could spread out a picnic blanket and see the Harbour Bridge, there were numerous food stalls, activities and a main stage which had bands playing music for the crowd. Despite turning eighteen in July of 2021, it wasn’t until now that I was out dancing and drinking legally, having a cheeky boogie with my besties. There was such a strong sense of community and energy in the crowd which sort of surprised me. I live an hour from the city but don’t go in a whole lot and I guess I kind of assumed there’d be a lot of stressed out people, snobby people, competitive people who would want the best vantage point, but that really didn’t end up being the case, it was for sure an active audience. All types of people were there and the vibes were high, many people struck up conversations with us, danced with us and told us how excited they were for 2022, the year we were promised would be better regarding Covid and restrictions. I suppose the only downside was that we had to wear masks and weren’t really supposed to be singing, although everyone was anyway.
Me in front of the 9 o’clock fireworks
This week in class we’ve discussed the importance and meanings of an audience. The bigger an audience is, the more successful the said material is considered, this is evident when considering hit shows like Channel Nines ‘Married at First Sight’, the most viewed television show in Australia, these high ratings guarantee that the show will stick around for at least several more years as it is highly valuable to Channel Nine’s ad revenue. Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks draw an estimated 1.1 billion viewers across the globe, so to be a part of that audience, especially in person, was extremely special.
References:
Gorrey M, December 2021, Harbour city to shine beneath New Year’s Eve fireworks, SMH.
Paul Donoughue, 2021, The Gig Economy, Double J <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-04/covid-music-industry-lockdown-australia-talks/100178172
Nine Publicity, 2018, Married At First Sight Takes The Lead Across Television and Digital, Nine
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