By Sandy Yang
(People's Daily Online) - Beijing, September 19 - In order
to reduce the number of visitors, London's New Year's Eve
fireworks celebrations is to be ticketed for the first time, and
100,000 tickets will be available to the public.
London's New Year's Eve fireworks celebrations is organised by
the Mayor of London. The 100,000 tickets will guarantee good
views of the fantastic pyrotechnic display and a better visitor
experience. People, from anywhere in the UK or abroad, will be
able to book up to four tickets from Friday 26 September at 12
noon (UK time), by going to london.gov.uk/nye.
Introducing tickets to popular events, similar to the Edinburgh
Hogmanay celebrations, is a recognised way of controlling crowd
numbers and not a penny of profit will be made from the £10 fee,
which will be used to pay for administration costs and ensuring
the event is safe.
Since the fireworks were first staged at the London Eye in 2003,
the numbers of people wanting to see them have grown from an
estimated 100,000 in the first year to 400,000 in 2012 and
500,000 in 2013.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "London's New Year's Eve
fireworks are phenomenally popular, not just in the capital, but
across the world and we want to ensure it continues to be a
safe, enjoyable and sustainable event for the long-term. After
consulting with our partners, we are introducing ticketing to
help manage crowd numbers and create a better experience on the
night. For anyone without a ticket the fireworks are again being
shown live and in full on television, meaning you can watch it
in glorious HD colour without missing a single second. And don't
forget, there are hundreds of other New Year's Eve celebrations
to enjoy in bars, restaurants and clubs across the capital."
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