New Year’s fireworks on council wish list

London’s iconic New Year’s Eve celebrations have already been cancelled. In Sydney, there are calls to can the iconic fireworks, despite the Premier assuring they can still go ahead.

While a lot can still change between now and the end of December, Auckland Council is still hoping to host a celebration to welcome 2021.

Plans are yet to be finalised but Ateed (Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development) has confirmed it is working with SkyCity, Vector Lights and Heart of the City to put on a celebration.

Despite closed borders to tourists and no plans for a transtasman bubble in time for the celebrations, Steve Armitage, GM of destination at Ateed, says this year’s New Year’s events will be “a golden opportunity for us to showcase our region to an international audience”.

Auckland is the first major city in the world to welcome in 2021 and being able to celebrate it would be, in itself, cause for celebration, as it would mean the city has got Covid-19 firmly under control.

“Alongside New Year’s Eve, we have a line-up of events and activities planned for the summer to provide a real stimulus to the region’s economy.

“One of these is Summernova, Auckland’s newest summer highlight, which is designed to wrap around Auckland’s hosting of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada,” Armitage said.

Auckland will be hosting a number of events throughout summer, within regulations of the alert level the city is at at the time.

A debate has been raging over whether Sydney’s iconic fireworks will go ahead this year but now the state’s premier has vowed to make the display happen, even if her government has to pay for it.

Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney Clover Moore has pushed back on the fireworks display, saying it posed too much of a risk to hold the event during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, on Thursday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the fireworks would be going ahead “in one form or another”.

Berejiklian said her government was pushing back against resistance from the City of Sydney and was even willing to pay for the New Year’s Eve display if that is what it took.

“This has been a challenging year,” Berejiklian said.

“We want to offer the people of NSW — and people around the world — a sign of hope.”