Every year the Sydney fireworks display is a New Year's Eve highlight viewed around the world. And this year is likely to be no different, with more pyrotechnics and a tribute to the late 'Queen of Soul', Aretha Franklin. Executive producer of the display, Anna McInerney says it will add a sense of nostalgia to the night.
And Sydney will certainly honour her in style - with a total of 8.5 tonnes of fireworks set to blast into the sky to mark the beginning of 2019. That's 500 kilograms - half a tonne - more than last year, and organisers are using some of the biggest barges ever to carry and launch the sparkling explosives. Fireworks director Fortunato Foti has been in charge of this important element for 21 years now, and says it never gets old.
According to the state tourism bureau, Destination New South Wales, the spectacle is Australia's largest public event of the year and brings in $133 million annually for the local economy. But with more than one million people expected to descend on the city's CBD on Monday night, police will be on high alert. Assistant commissioner Mark Walton says New Year's Eve is a major security operation.
Heavy-duty bollards, trucks, cars, buses and armed police will form a protected boundary around New Year’s Eve revellers, not just in Sydney but in all of Australia's capital cities. In Melbourne, where displays, and crowds, are also predicted to be bigger than ever, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton has a similar message.
In the Victorian capital, the fireworks display has been designed to be viewed from a distance, and the entire display will cover seven square kilometres of the CBD. Design work started in March for the 10-minute show, set to the music of Indigenous rapper Adam Briggs. Adelaide Oval will host its traditional new year's eve Big Bash cricket fixture, while in Brisbane, a fireworks display will light up the sky above South Bank.
Listen to SBS Punjabi Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
