From this year, it will cost £10 to watch the London Eye fireworks. Well, only if you want to be really close to them.
Last year around half a million people are estimated to have headed to see the display, but to control crowds, this year, just 100,000 people will be allowed to get up close to the Embankment to watch the fireworks.
According to a Mayoral statement, following consultation with emergency services, the Mayor decided the situation had become untenable, and it was decided ticketing was the best option available to organisers going forward.
People will be able to book up to four tickets from Friday 26 September at 12 noon, by going to www.london.gov.uk/nye.
Ticketing is not for profit – the £10 administration fee will be used to pay for the ticketing itself, and the extra infrastructure the decision to ticket will bring.
To sign up for information and updates, go here.
Or, if you want to watch them for free, just find one of London’s high spots and watch them from a comfortable distance, and with a much less crowded commute home.
Hopefully the very good fireworks at the end of the Lord Mayor’s Show each November (this year Sat 8th) will remain free. Much less crowded, and, with a start time of around 1715, plenty of evening left for a few drinks afterwards.
PS The website for the Lord Mayor’s Show is, I think, a shining example of good design and good writing. Applause!
I think fireworks are best viewed from a bit of a distance. I live two minutes from Lewisham Town Centre and last year walked to Blackheath (just up from the Village proper) for the FREE fireworks display. It was deafening and too close for a proper appreciation of the pyrotechnics. By November, I should have moved to my new flat across the heath and will probably go to the bandstand to enjoy the view, without the accompany thunderous sounds.
Refuse to buy tickets- if nobody buys them what could they do ?
Your self-righteous sense of entitlement is palpable, Yvonne.
Well that would suit them, since the underlying reason is to shrink the numbers attending the event, in my understanding. BBC1 gives me a free and good enough view anyway, and I don’t spend three hours getting home afterwards…