As we head towards another New Year’s Eve and our popular Kiama Sky Show, it’s all hands on deck for our tireless events crew at Destination Kiama.
We quizzed them about what goes into putting on an evening of fireworks, music and festivities for around 10,000 people.
How much work goes into the NYE Sky Show?
It takes months of work and pre-planning when putting together a major event that includes fireworks, road closures and lots of people!
We start work in May going over things that need improving and refining from the previous year, this also incorporates community feedback.
By October the NYE Sky Show is our sole focus, with lots of meetings, locking in staff, shortlisting food vendors, security, equipment, and working with local businesses and confirming sponsors, all while keeping an eye on our budget.
How many people does it take to make it happen?
Our core team is project lead Helen, marketing guru Belinda, with manager Sally overseeing everything.
And on the day, we have about 20 people pitching in from our events team, information centre, parks & gardens and waste services.
On top of that we work with about 60 different suppliers, and some of them have teams of 10 or more. It is a huge operation!
Then there’s our amazing volunteers.
Our local service clubs help with important jobs such as rubbish collection, car parking and community activities while raising funds for their various initiatives.
What’s involved in terms of safety?
A lot. On the day we have NSW Police, NSW Fire & Rescue, NSW Ambulance Service, St John Ambulance, Transport for NSW, SES, Council lifeguards, Marine Rescue, security contractors, fireworks technicians and more, all working to ensure the show goes as smoothly and as safely as possible for everyone.
Behind all this are lots of briefings, plans and maps for every possible scenario.
How do you come up with ideas for the show?
Easy. In fact, we have so many great ideas we wish we could execute each and every one. We have a wonderful network of people and resources from all the community events we’ve run recently thanks to the NSW Government’s Reconnecting Regional Community Events fund.
Our local business owners in particular are so inspiring, and really have so much to offer our community. In the end it always comes down to feasibility, safety and suitability.
We also have to find the balance between complementing what we’re already offering our community and not exceeding the capacity of Kiama to host the show.
What’s your favourite part?
Our favourite part is connecting with local business owners, service clubs and individuals, learning about what is important to them and how to make sure what we are doing is benefiting our community.
It has been a true pleasure to build relationships through our Destination Kiama partnership program and in consulting the community.
Watching everything come together, and connecting individuals and businesses to create something beautiful for everyone to enjoy is truly special.
Give us some fireworks facts.
This year’s Sky Show will be the most environmentally friendly so far. We’re working with Fireworks Australia to lessen our carbon footprint and resource impact.
They use rice straw and calcite mineral instead of traditional cardboard and heavy metals to improve biodegradability and minimise waste.
They’ve also reduced the amount of powder in their fireworks to reduce carbon emissions. In fact, people will probably generate more emissions driving to the show.
But we also have an extra train service to offset that. This year we’re encouraging people to use public transport, the park n ride from the Leisure Centre, or walk if they can.
Photo: Sally and Helen from our amazing events team which is in top gear preparing for the NYE Sky Show
