‘Everyone’s here’: Backpackers flood Coogee after Bronte crackdown

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Thousands of backpackers and expats have descended on an eastern Sydney beach, after attempts at curtailing a burgeoning Christmas Day tradition at Bronte moved it slightly south.

Crowds of tourists, far from their families but still keen to celebrate Christmas, flocked to Coogee Beach on Thursday, after a public backlash and ongoing construction at Bronte deterred revellers.

Crowds descended on Coogee Beach for Christmas after attempts to crack down on parties at Bronte.

Lifeguards warned against swimming while drinking as the crowd partied with the Hare Krishnas, dancing in circles, or on shoulders, and two DJs played at either end of the Coogee lawns.

Katie McHugh, who is English and in Australia on a working holiday, said the party at Coogee was going fine.

“As long as people tidy up, it’s free land, people should do as they want,” she said.

A group display a Scottish flag at Coogee Beach on Thursday afternoon.

Hector Hernandez, from Spain, has been in Australia for two-and-a-half years, but Thursday was his first time attending a Christmas beach party.

“It’s fun, but it’s a complete mess,” Hernandez said.

“I went to the toilet and it’s disgusting, there’s no preparation … no one was prepared.”

A Randwick City Council spokesperson said the council had worked closely with police to prepare for a potential influx of people on Christmas Day.

The crowd was large but mostly well-behaved, according to Randwick Council.

More bins had been provided and additional cleaning and waste staff were rostered to help with the aftermath.

The council said it had also sought to remind potential attendees that Randwick’s beaches and parks are alcohol-free zones, putting up posters and delivering information to nearby backpacker hostels.

“The alcohol-free rule allows police to take enforcement action if needed,” the spokesperson said.

“While crowd numbers are large, feedback so far suggests most people are well-behaved and are celebrating an Australian Christmas by the beach.”

Signs advised attendees alcohol was prohibited and glass was not allowed, while council rangers in high-vis roamed the crowd.

The Coogee Beach festivities came after Randwick’s northern neighbour, Waverley Council, cracked down on celebrations at Bronte Beach, following an “unacceptable” mess left behind last year.

Waverley this year spent more than $250,000 on increased police and security, including checkpoints where alcohol would be confiscated, additional cleaning, buses and toilets, as well as crowd management.

“This is not an approved or managed council event, and while we strongly discourage crowds from attending, we cannot ban people from the beach,” Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh said earlier in December.

“That said, we are committed to mitigating the impacts on the community as much as possible.”

Some extra resources and cleaning crews had also been sent down to Coogee from Bronte, Randwick Council’s spokesperson said.

Visitors left the park at Bronte Beach strewn with garbage in 2022.

Residents near Bronte have been criticising the Christmas Day party for years, complaining about noise, rubbish, antisocial behaviour and the use of the park as a “mass urinal”.

With long lines for the toilets, some attendees at Coogee Beach on Thursday were instead urinating in bottles or in showers.

French national Jul Krasousky said she wanted to go to Bronte on Thursday “but it was closed and there were too many cops, and they were checking for alcohol”.

“It’s summer, it’s Christmas, we’re on vacation,” she said.

“If we were in France we wouldn’t do it. But we have no family, we want to be with friends and everyone’s here.”

Police were also seen patrolling at Coogee, with more officers arriving as the afternoon progressed.

A spokesperson said NSW Police were aware of the event and were on the scene but had not yet been called to respond to any specific incidents on Thursday afternoon.

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