Orange City Council is backing plans by local operators of Kennards Hire to take the annual NYE celebrations in a new direction : replacing fireworks with a major laser show at Wade Park.
Last night’s Orange City Council meeting decided to sponsor the event with $30,000 worth of funding.
VENUE: Wade Park in the heart of Orange will be the location for this year’s NYE event.
Kennards Hire Regional Manager Craig McMahon has welcomed news of the funding support.
“We’ve been involved behind the scenes in the ‘NYE Party under the stars’ for a number of years now and we’ve seen what a fantastic community event it is,” Craig McMahon said. “We want to see it continue and that’s why we approached Council to see if something could happen.”
“Last year at the height of the summer there was some debate about staging a fireworks display. The quality of laser shows that are now available really solves that problem. The plans is to have a 45 minute spectacular display that will bring local families together.”
Orange mayor Cr Reg Kidd is already excited about the event.
“I’m impressed that Kennards Hire has recognised the value of an event like this for the Orange community and has put up their hand to bring it together,” Cr Reg Kidd said. “A community celebration at this time of the year will be very important.”
Kennards Hire Regional Manager Craig McMahon said planning will now begin in earnest.
“We had to wait on the Council decision before we could take the idea too far but now planning can really step up. We’ve involved local public relations firm Manning PR as the key organisers with the local experience to bring the event together. We’ve already been in touch with a laser production house in Sydney that will produce the show.”
“They project the laser images onto a fine mist of water that catches the light, and lets the audience see what’s happening. Each misting machine only uses five litres of water for the whole show, so it’s sensible amount of water use.”
“There are many, many details still be sorted and a very tight deadline. We’ll look to have a public launch once those details are sorted, but we want to have an accessible ‘gold coin donation’ entry, to an alcohol-free, family-friendly event in the heart of Orange at Wade Park.
“We’ll have to comply with whatever COVID-safe restrictions are in place by then, and that might keep crowd number down to say 2,500 people. We want to look at live streaming the event so others can enjoy the show.”
