Late musicians David Bowie and Prince will be honoured as part of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks later this month, as will late actor Gene Wilder and more entertainment legends who passed away in 2016.
As Fairfax Media reports, Sydney’s NYE organisers have announced that music from some of the artists we lost this year will form part of the soundtrack for this year’s fireworks display, and those artists have inspired “never-before-seen” pyrotechnic effects which will hit the harbour at 9pm and midnight.
Sydney NYE co-producer Catherine Flanagan says this year’s fireworks will “explode in a space odyssey above the city”, paying tribute to entertainment icons around Sydney Harbour.
“Celebrating their music as part of the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks displays is an opportunity to reflect on the year that’s been and celebrate what the future holds,” she says.
The music of Bowie and Prince have been chosen because both had links to Australia. “Sydney is especially significant to David Bowie, who called Elizabeth Bay home for a decade, Prince performed in Australia many times and his Sydney Opera House concert was one of his last,” Flanagan says.
NYE organisers have also revealed that the fireworks display will also features a “wonderful Willy Wonka moment” as a tribute to actor Gene Wilder, who died in August at the age of 83.
Entertainment legends who died more recently, including singer George Michael and actor Carrie Fisher, won’t feature in the soundtrack, because it was completed in early September. There will also be no symbol on the Sydney Harbour Bridge this year, which is how it’s been since 2014.
Up to a million people are expected to gather around Sydney Harbour this New Year’s Eve. Watch the fireworks display which brought us into 2016, below.
Watch: Sydney’s 2015/2016 NYE Fireworks Display
