Bye bye, 2025: How Melbourne is welcoming the New Year

2 months ago 4

It’s an evening of firsts on the bank of the Yarra River tonight as people from all walks of life come together in Melbourne’s CBD to farewell the year that was.

Spending their first New Year’s Eve together as a couple, Kellie Lovett and Darren Parker are enjoying a picnic date before the evening’s celebrations kick off.

Darren Parker and Kellie Lovett are spending their first New Year’s together as a couple.

“We’re looking forward to spending more time like this,” Parker said. The Mornington Peninsula couple came prepared with a snack box from Degraves Cafe, and plenty of wine to sip.

“We’ve found each other after a long, long time,” Lovett said. “So [we’re] really looking forward to doing more of this.”

Just metres away, Eliza Chinn is excited to enjoy her first Australian New Year’s Eve. She’s in Melbourne with George White, who is also from the UK, after finishing her master’s degree back home. They’ve both heard the fireworks display here is like none other.

“I think it’s going to be big,” White said, after spending last New Year’s in Brisbane.

Eliza Chinn and George White, both from the UK, are looking forward to the fireworks tonight.

“I did New Year’s in London last year, so really excited to compare,” Chinn said. “I like it here. Although the weather is strange.”

Chinn’s main goal for the new year is to cut down her screen time. White wants to continue exploring Australia more.

The two couples are among around 500,000 people who are expected to gather across the city centre tonight.

Two seven-minute fireworks and light shows will light up the skies – the first at 9.30pm for the young ones, and another display as the clock hits midnight. The fireworks will be visible from many parts of Melbourne, with organisers claiming they can be viewed from as far away as Frankston and the Dandenong Ranges.

Outside the CBD, crowds are gathering at Flemington for the racecourse’s inaugural New Year’s Eve race meeting. Up to 12,000 punters – double the size of the crowd at the traditional New Year’s Day meeting – are expected to watch Melbourne Cup heroes Jamie Melham and father-and-son training combination Tony and Calvin McEvoy join forces for the $65,000 1800-metre Australian Trainers’ Association plate, followed by live entertainment and nearby fireworks displays.

Racegoers spend the last day of 2025 trackside.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece has promised that tonight’s fireworks display across Melbourne’s CBD, which costs about $6 million, will be the city’s “biggest and best show yet”.

By 6pm, a long line of partygoers flocked to Yarra-side floating bar Arbory Afloat. This year, the bar is celebrating its 10th New Year’s Eve event, expecting over 1500 people to pour into both the floating venue and Arbory Eatery.

Partygoers Georgia Beddall, Ben Cross, Ross Bateman, Angus Linney and Brooke O”Brien at Arbory Afloat

Embracing this year’s theme of all white for peace and prosperity, friends Charlie Holland, from the UK, and Tania McNair, from Geelong, have added a pop of colour to honour the recent tragedies in Bondi.

“It’s been a challenging year for both of us, lots of stuff going on personally, at work, so it’s just nice to start the year afresh and with more positivity,” McNair said.

Melbourne City Council has established four designated celebration zones offering good views of the fireworks, at Kings Domain, Flagstaff Gardens and Treasury Gardens in Melbourne’s CDB, and Victoria Promenade in Docklands. The zones are family-friendly and free, and will feature DJs and food trucks to keep partygoers entertained during the countdown to midnight.

Bars and restaurants across the city have spent the day readying their venues for midnight celebrations, with the cooler-than-average weather doing little to deter people from seeing in 2026 outdoors.

Partygoers should remember a jacket tonight, with the mercury expected to drop to 13 degrees overnight (or what feels as low as just 10 degrees), following a high of 19 degrees on Wednesday afternoon.

Police will be out in force to ensure everyone has a safe start to the New Year. As many as 2500 police officers have been rostered to work on Wednesday night – including 500 in the inner city.

Public transport is free between 6pm on Wednesday, right through to 6am on New Year’s Day, with extra trains and trams running throughout the city and regional Victoria.

Major stations Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff will operate until 3am. Southern Cross and Flinders Street stations will remain open throughout the night.

Commuters are being advised to plan ahead and check for any disruptions.

New Year’s fireworks lit up Melbourne’s CBD on January 1, 2025.

There will be several road closures impacting traffic in the city, including sections of major thoroughfares Flinders Street, Swanston Street, Spring Street and Bourke Street. Most closures will end by early on New Year’s Day.

Hundreds of Crown Casino employees are expected to spend their New Year’s Eve on strike to protest major pay cuts. Workers will take protected industrial action after voting to reject a proposal that would see new employees paid between 16 per cent and 32 per cent less than existing workers for identical roles. Employees across different operational teams including bar staff, table game dealers and security will leave their positions from 10pm until 2am.

With Angus Delaney, Danny Russell and AAP

Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.