London’s New Year fireworks were a dangerous shambles

Drone lights, shining above Westminster, spelled out ‘London: a place for everyone,’ at this year’s New Year Eve show in the capital. To most watching on TV around the world, it was big, fun spectacle with bright fireworks and New Year cheer.  

But for the people on the ground, who had waited in line to see the fireworks on Waterloo bridge, it was anything but. As with thousands of others in the ‘Pink 3’ queue, my New Year’s Eve was spent in an unmoving, unmanaged line, which was followed by a mad rush that led to a dangerously compressed, uncontrolled crowd. At around ten minutes to midnight, I feared for my safety in the packed crowd, which was pushing tighter and tighter. Thankfully I was able to escape, even though it meant I ended up missing the fireworks. The whole event ended up being more pandemonium than celebration, and it’s only good fortune that it didn’t become a crowd crush, of the like which killed 159 people in Seoul in 2022. 

It’s not like I left things to the last minute. The gates to the bridge were supposed to open at half eight and close two hours later, so I arrived at Holborn tube station just before nine, giving me an hour and a half to get there. I later found out that some ticketholders were in line at 7 p.m. and still never made it onto the bridge. Naively, I thought before I arrived that with more than 100,000 people attending the fireworks — as the mayor’s office happily boasts — this would be a competent affair. Bags would be inspected, tickets scanned, and IDs checked, and all who bought tickets would arrive on the bridge in an orderly fashion. 

Instead, it was easy to see how the crowd ended up in such a dangerous position later in the evening. There was only a single sign from Holborn pointing in the direction of the Pink line and the neighbouring Red 4 lines, and the surrounding area was a mess of disorganised queues. None of the stewards seemed to have any idea where any of the queues started and we ended up being passed from pillar to post around central London before we found the correct line, which someone told us hadn’t moved for the past hour. 

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Ross Clark

Britain is living beyond its means

After waiting for hours, the line to Waterloo bridge finally started moving at around 11:00 p.m. But it turned out the gates were now fully closed, and those ahead had begun rushing to find a last-minute spot in the area to see the fireworks. The pace of the line gradually increased until it was just an enormous crowd running towards the gate with people clambering over the thigh-high concrete barrier meant to stop cars, and around underground entrances trying to get to the front, still believing they could get onto the bridge. There was no audio announcement saying the gate to the bridge was closed, nor signs, attendees, or police in the area, and so more and more people continued to rush in. 

It felt seriously dangerous. This was only heightened by loud groups of young men trying to rush through the crowd, by the growing impatience and aggression in the air, and the disturbing number of young children stuck in the crowd at risk of being trampled. 

This was the making of a tragedy, and it was only luck that meant most people only lost out on their time and money.  

Despite many voicing their alarm about the situation on New Year’s Eve, the Mayor has blithely dismissed their concerns, with a spokesperson telling MyLondon that the event hadn’t been oversold (contrary to what the few visible event stewards and police officers told attendees), and that the ‘vast majority of more than 100,000 ticket-holders enjoyed the display’. The statement added that ‘A number of people arrived at ticket gates with fake tickets and were refused entry – unfortunately this led to delays at entry points.’ This is staggeringly complacent from the mayor’s office. 

What does it say about our capital — about our country — that our biggest annual celebration almost became a death trap? And what does it say to those who paid exorbitant amounts to fly across the world to visit it – including from Japan and America — for their experience to be dismissed by the mayor in this way? 

At the moment, no refunds seem to have been issued. But my greater worry is that nothing will be learnt from this, and the chaos will be repeated again next year. I just hope that no one is hurt next time either.