LONDON NYE TICKET DEBATE CONTINUES

In spite of having thoroughly enjoyed Christmas and New Year and having lit a fair few fireworks in celebration, it would appear that following on from the lovely Boris Johnson’s decision to bring in ticketing for the London NYE firework display in 2014, some of the arguments continue to rage.

The decision to ticket the event was intended to take the strain off the overstretched emergency services and ancillary crowd control and support and of course the transport infrastructure in London.

The current complaint is that of the 106,428 tickets sold only 29,800 went to residents of our nation’s capital. The naysayers have decided that as the locals pay a huge contribution towards the event in taxes they should receive first refusal on tickets and a much greater percentage of the tickets available than the 28% they received this time around.

This discussion is bound to continue as it is clear that there must be a fair balance between letting the locals have all the tickets, which will impact on visitor figures, or continue to encourage tourism to the City.

The cost of the display in 2015 has been estimated at around £1.8 million and for 11 minutes this appears to be a great deal of money but this covers everything from the tape to cordon off areas to the rigging for the fireworks and compared to Australia who spent more than twice this amount we were considered thrifty.

New Year firework displays have some say become the ultimate status symbol for wealthy cities who use the opportunity to offer something magical to encourage visitors. In a world of displaced children, war and hunger, why begrudge everyone of a little magic.