Crowds gather on Sydney foreshore

Sydney's foreshore is fast filling up as the countdown to 2015 gets under way.

Thousands of New Year's Eve revellers take up their positions early on the Sydney Harbour foreshore at MacMahons Point. (AAP)

Thousands of New Year's Eve revellers take up their positions early on the Sydney Harbour foreshore at MacMahons Point. (AAP)

More than a million Sydneysiders and tourists are taking their places in parks and vantage points around the harbour to ring in 2015.

Famed for its yearly fireworks display, the call to Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve was too great for British tourist Lili Robbins, who drove overnight from Brisbane to see the display.

"Our friends are in the Botanic Gardens saving us a spot, so there hasn't been too much queuing," the 23-year-old said, gesturing past the line of hundreds of people at Circular Quay to the teeming crowd of thousands in the Botanic Gardens.

"We made the effort to come back for the two days, just for the event.

"We travelled overnight, 21 hours."

Her friend, Alisa Holzhiuer, 20, also took the trip after her friends started badgering her about it when she arrived in Australia from Germany in October.

"Many people told me I had to make the trip, that it was a special spot for new years," she said.

Thousands of people can be seen along the foreshore - lazing in the bright sun, playing games and enjoying the cool 23 degree breeze.

Revellers can expect to see seven tonnes of fireworks explode over Sydney on Wednesday night, while a tribute will also be paid to Martin Place siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina dawson in the form of a floral display on the pylons of the Harbour Bridge.

But despite the sombre tone to parts of the evening's celebrations, it's the lights over the harbour that continue to attract revellers.

"This is my first time. We've come for the biggest fireworks," said a grinning Hossein Bozorgmagar, who with his daughter Atoosa also travelled from Brisbane for the night.

Mr Bozorgmagar, who along with 1.6 million Sydneysiders, will likely have his wish granted.

The first of three fireworks displays will begin at 9pm, and over the night 100,000 pyrotechnic effects will light up the sky and be beamed to 1 billion people worldwide.


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Source: AAP


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