Organisers apologise for Sydney NYE party flop

Organisers of a New Year's Eve event on Sydney Harbour which cost up to $500 a ticket have apologised after receiving a barrage of complaints about "disastrous" facilities and service.

A screenshot of the website

A screenshot of the website Source: SBS News

Attendees demanded refunds and threatened legal action after complaining of awful food, enormous lines for toilets and ordinary music at NYE Above the Harbour.

"The organisers and caterers, in good faith, are currently processing any complaints and a formal process is in place to address and resolve these issues," event organisers said in a statement on Sunday.

Revellers swamped social media to slam the "complete joke" of an event.

Many attendees, including Chris Lee, were highly critical of its culinary offerings.

"I cannot believe you charged us over $400 for an `all inclusive' event with only three food stalls for thousands of people," he posted on Facebook.

"We had to wait 2.5 hours to get fed some disgusting dried up pork buns that tasted like cardboard."

Angela Micallef, from the United Kingdom, said ticketholders were robbed.

"I spent most of my night queuing up for one thing or another and didn't get to spend time with my family," she said on the event's Facebook page.

"The beer tent ran out of cider early on, the music/sound quality was awful and the kids' corner comprised an air hockey table."

Organisers said on Sunday that they felt for aggrieved attendees and would deal with complaints on a case-by-case basis.

"The organisers and caterers empathise with patrons and are themselves disappointed with the issues that have arisen," they said.

"They have poured significant time, resources and personal effort into the event's planning, and are personally affected by the unfavourable outcome of their efforts."

 


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world