Sydney New Years Eve website updated for 2026, and my reflections on last year.

G'day Slagicals,

I got it done early this year. I did get it done early, then some life happened, then it was basically August, so I figured I'd wait until the website updated anyway.

Event planning for NYE 2026/7 started about a year ago now, and if you're a tourist who wants to see in 2027 in Sydney, you should be pretty deep in your planning too. Like if you don't have your accommodation booked yet, you're probably screwed.

As usual, here's the list of when vantage points closed below:

Illuora and Lookes Avenue Reserves received crowd warnings at 2052 and 2053 respectively on 31/12/2025, but never closed. These were the only two vantage points to receive crowd warnings on the NYE website.

*It appears CoS made the decision to split the Botanic Gardens into its constituent vantage points for reporting, see "Bennelong Lawn" and "Tarpeian Lawn" for the vantage points that would have reported here in 2023.

†These times will have been data reporting errors, the points would have closed much earlier.

§Blues Point is ticketed this year, be there at opening time if you've a ticket and want one of the best spots in the park.

♠I would never recommend Darling Harbour on NYE to anybody, you won't see the Bridge or Opera House at all.

Vantage point names in bold are new additions to the list for 2025, with italicised names being vantage points that didn't get a specific mention in 2025, despite getting one in 2023 or 2024.

Years before 2025/26 are sourced from CoS Twitter, while 2025/26 is taken from the NYE website, as CoS doesn't seem to be updating their Twitter feed so much anymore.

There's a couple of surprises in last year's crowd numbers, chief amongst which is that the CBD didn't fill entirely for the first time since 2020 and discounting global pandemics, for a long time before that. Don't base your plans on this happening again, you will end up disappointed.

Also, some of the suburban vantage points filled a bit more, which seems to be the result of people wanting to avoid the more crowded vantage points in the CBD. I'd expect a reversion to the mean this year though, with a greater focus on the CBD again.

So what's actually on the website this year?

On the updated website so far, we have 48 vantage points, of which 14 are ticketed. Of those 14, four, including the Cahill Expressway, are free, while the remaining 10 are paid. I think that for the first time in a few years, we're seeing most, if not all, of the vantage points upfront.

For the first time since 2016/17, Cremorne Point is back on the vantage point list. This appears to be due to spillover from the ticketing of NSC vantage points as well as a trend towards heavier suburban vantage point use. Apparently Cremorne Point got about 11,000 last year.

No changes to the standard show format so far, I'd be surprised to see any major changes.

The usual vantage points allow alcohol, Inner West, Harbour Islands, and Pyrmont it is if you want to bring your own.

And the closure time information is back on the website… for at least some vantage points. The times do seem to be later than my records of the closure times, so always arrive early to avoid disappointment.

As always, the subreddit will be meeting up for New Year's! So come out to Birchgrove and enjoy the subreddit's decade-long NYE tradition!