City Hall has blamed ‘fake tickets’ for the chaos at London’s New Year fireworks after revellers complained about huge queues, poor signage and being denied access to official viewing areas.
The iconic celebration included more than 12,000 fireworks, 600 drones and 430 lights – but some critics have labelled the event as ‘the Sadiq Khan show’, while others didn’t even catch a glimpse of the New Year’s Eve spectacular at all.
Several ticket holders, some who had even travelled to London from Europe and the US especially, fumed on social media that the event was poorly organised, with footage shared online showing huge crowds brought to a complete standstill.
Others blasted the annual display in the capital as ‘a farce’, ‘a scam’ and ‘a shambles’.
Mr Khan’s fireworks had previously been labelled as an ‘ego trip’ after a message saying ‘The Mayor of London presents…’ was written high in the sky to kick-off the new year celebrations.
Revellers at London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks complained of huge queues, poor signage and being denied entry to viewing areas
Mayor Sadiq Khan had billed the event as London’s ‘best and biggest ever’ New Year celebration
Nikolaj Hansen-Turton wrote an open letter to Mr Khan on Twitter to express his frustration towards the organisers.
He wrote: I am writing this message to express my disappointment with the situation that took place at the London New Year’s Fireworks show. For many of us at Pink section we were met with huge disappointment.
Mr Hansen-Turton said that he joined the queue at 9pm and only moved around 100m in two hours.
He said that staff members suggested moving to different zones, staying put or even told them to give up and go home.
Mr Hansen-Turton, who decided to stick it out in the same queue, continued: ‘The crowds then started rushing and pushing and it was very unsafe and scary. We were advised by police and staff to go home and leave the area, which we did.’
‘We are hurt by how unorganised, unsafe, and unprofessional this event was. I pray nobody was seriously hurt by this mismanagement,’ he added, calling for a public apology and compensation from the Mayor of London.
In a separate tweet last night, Mr Hansen-Turton fumed that the mayor had still not apologised, adding: ‘What makes it hurt even more is the Mayor is continually posting about how amazing the fireworks were while not acknowledging the issues with those who payed and travelled to see them.’
Other revellers have also taken to social media to complain about the event which the mayor billed as London’s ‘best and biggest ever’ New Year celebration.
Several ticket holders, some from the US and Europe, flocked to social media to complain about the organisation of the event. Others shared footage from within the packed crowds
Alminas Plunge wrote: ‘The situation at the pink line was extremely disorganised. We travelled all the way from Lithuania to London for the New Year’s fireworks.
‘Our investment in this show extended beyond the £20 per person ticket price. We found ourselves stuck in a queue, unable to enter.’
Another user, Antony, posted: ‘100’s of 1000’s of people, myself included bought tickets for the family & queued for 3+ hrs not to get into the event. Completely disorganised & very unsafe when the crowds rushed the gates. Here on vacation from California.’
Smruthi Venkat added: ‘Extremely hideous crowd management. No Staff available anywhere along the pink 3 zone. The queue stood for miles and miles, with other random queues mixing with one another. Same thing with red 4 zone. Denied entry after 4 hours of wait.’
And Bhavana Sornapudi wrote: ‘It was an utter disappointment in the pink area. Despite having tickets, and waiting in queue for long hours (3-4 hrs), the gates were closed and unable to view anything. Worst way to start a New Year.’
Just before the bongs of Big Ben sounded at midnight in London, a message saying ‘The Mayor of London presents…’ was written high in the sky
Mr Khan’s fireworks had previously been labelled as an ‘ego trip’ and ‘the Sadiq Khan show’
The celebration that lasted almost 15 minutes referenced the King’s coronation and also used Charles’s quote to mark the 75th anniversary of the Windrush crossing in which he said the new arrivals ‘collectively enrich the fabric of our national life’.
There were repeated references to London’s diversity and inclusivity, with Mr Khan telling the world everyone is welcome in a city where people can be themselves.
Some 100,000 people in the capital cast their eyes to the sky to take in the firework, laser, and drone show.
As hits by the Spice Girls, Calvin Harris, Dua Lupa and others rang out across the city, revellers were invited to look back on 2023.
But critics were left frustrated after the event, with one posting: ‘The Mayor of London presents… The Sadiq Khan Show. Funded by the extremely p***ed off British taxpayer. #LondonNYE #LondonFireworks.’
Further messages throughout the pyrotechnic show were heard from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Dame Helen Mirren, Bella Ramsey, Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley, George the Poet, and Baroness Floella Benjamin, who read a poem by the late Benjamin Zephaniah.
Fireworks light up the sky over the London Eye in London during the New Year celebrations
Fireworks organised by Sadiq Khan welcome in the New Year in London overnight
People watch the fireworks over the London Eye in London during the New Year celebrations
Fireworks organised by the Mayor of London welcome in the New Year in the capital
But one viewer tweeted: ‘What a load of c**p. The only thing London can celebrate is being the crime capital of the world with this failing mayor. Even the fireworks were c**p.’
And another added: ‘Since when did you do the ‘Presented by’ The Mayor of London’ thing? I thought the light show was down to experts. How arrogant.’
A spokesperson for the mayor told the BBC: ‘Hundreds of event stewards played their part in delivering a safe and enjoyable event and a wide range of traffic schemes and strict security policies were in place to ensure that everyone who attended the event was safe.
‘City Hall continues to work closely with the Met Police to tackle the sale of these fake tickets.’
has contacted City Hall for comment.