New Year’s Eve fireworks are slammed as ‘disappointing’ in Melbourne – and the infuriating midnight act that left revellers outraged in Sydney

Aussies have blasted the New Year’s Eve fireworks display in Melbourne, labelling the spectacle ‘disappointing’.

Millions of Australians across the country rang in 2025 after flocking to a major cities around the country to watch the iconic fireworks. 

Sydney’s famous fireworks dazzled more than a million revellers who had waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the 12-minute display over the iconic harbour.

The show included pyrotechnics in two displays, eight water-based firework platforms and new animal-based designs shooting from the top of the Sydney Opera House sails. 

Meanwhile more than half a million revellers converged in Melbourne to watch the fireworks, which included 60 laser projections and pyrotechnics set off at 27 points.

However, many Melburnians were left feeling disappointed after starting 2025 with underwhelming firework displays with some even calling for them to be ‘cancelled’.

Some in Sydney were also left unimpressed after waiting hours at a vantage point only for their view to be obstructed by a train as the fireworks started. 

‘So, we just watched the Melbourne fireworks in the city. What was that? It was so bad,’ one girl said in a TikTok video. 

‘I am never coming to [Melbourne] city for the fireworks again. I’m never, every watching it. We should have just stayed in our hotel room’. 

Her friend chimed: ‘It was so s***. I came from America for this s***? Melbourne is cancelled’.   

Another reveller mocked Melbourne’s fireworks, which showed hundreds of people trying to film the sporadic display. 

‘Melbourne after claiming they’ve got world class fireworks 15x better than Sydney’s,’ the caption read. 

Other social media users agreed, claiming Melbourne’s New Year’s Eve fireworks were underwhelming.   

‘I was there and I agree with them completely- s*** show,’ one commented. 

‘Why on earth would you go to Melbourne before Sydney,’ a second wrote. 

A third chimed: ‘Yeah, I just watched a video of the Melb fireworks… no big ones, just “spritzers” off the top of the buildings and a couple of cheap laser lights. I reckon the local official ones I went to were better’. 

Some defended the display claiming the fireworks were better observed from afar rather than in the heart of the CBD.  

‘You couldn’t see how much space the fireworks took up if you were in it, watching it from the beach 20km away was wild,’ one wrote. 

‘You have to see it from afar, I watched on a hill in Hawthorn and it was unbelievable,’ another person commented. 

A third added: ‘They’re not really designed to be watched from the cbd or city itself, they were awesome on tv especially with the lasers… very good and far better than Sydney’s’. 

Another reveller even claimed Melbourne’s firework display was better than Sydney’s and catered to everyone, not just those who are ‘rich’.  

‘Sydney’s fireworks look spectacular on TV but can only really be enjoyed live by those rich enough to own a yacht or afford waterfront property,’ they wrote on Reddit.

‘Melbourne launches fireworks off every tall building in the city. It’s messy and chaotic but everyone gets to have some fun’. 

Online commentators slammed the reveller’s sentiments, with almost everyone claiming the fireworks in Sydney were and always will be far better than in Melbourne. 

One person pointed out that Sydney’s display lasted a full 12 minutes while Melbourne’s lasted 8 minutes.  

‘Sydney’s fireworks s**t all over Melbourne’s on every metric, don’t kid yourself,’ one person wrote. 

‘I’ve seen both and I can hold my hand on my heart that Sydney’s NYE fireworks displays is way better than Melbourne’s. They have a landmark and a beautiful harbour to do these, we don’t,’ a second person wrote. 

A third person added: ‘There’s thousands of buildings in Sydney, many of which let people on the roof. There’s also hundreds of vantage points that locals meet at to enjoy them. 

‘I’m a born and raised poor houso kid, and have watched them dozens of times with views that were amazing.’ 

However, for some frustrated Sydneysiders, their view of the iconic Harbour display was blocked by a train as the fireworks ushered in 2025. 

A video shared to TikTok showed crowds of people packed into a vantage point on Alfred Street in Circular Quay. 

A train, which slowly drove through Circular Quay station, interrupted the view of the fireworks, angering many of the partygoers. 

‘The worst timing for that train to pass and ruin the fireworks view,’ the video’s caption read. 

Social media users said a train at Circular Quay station had spoiled the view of the fireworks last year as well. 

‘It’s the same last year. Some smart people catch the train during this period to get a fantastic view of the fireworks,’ one person wrote. 

New Year’s Eve was celebrated across the country at midnight on Tuesday, with capital cities and local councils celebrating the start of 2025. 

In Brisbane, about 80,000 individual fireworks were exploded across the skyline, with more set off along the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

While in Adelaide, fireworks, food trucks and live music lured about 25,000 people to the Torrens Riverbank with more than 400,000 people visiting the CBD on New Year’s Eve.

Perth was treated to two explosive displays, one at 8.30pm from a barge on the Swan River and a second midnight display to announce the arrival of 2025.

In Tasmania, Launceston combined fireworks with a festival to showcase more than 40 of the island state’s fine food and drink producers at the seventh annual BeerFest in Royal Park on New Year’s Eve.