--- description: Sydney's fireworks display said farewell to 2016 with a tribute to the late entertainers David Bowie, Prince and Gene Wilder. title: Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Pay Tribute to Prince, David Bowie and Gene Wilder image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d16e8fef5ac47f9/6988b4358e0601b119468af5/sydney-harbor-2017-new-years-eve-fireworks-bowie-prince-gene-wilder.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Australia](/tag/australia/) ## Australia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Pay Tribute to Prince, David Bowie and Gene Wilder  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2016 3:28 PM CUT  New Year fireworks illuminate the sky over the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney on January 1, 2017. New Year fireworks illuminate the sky over the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney on January 1, 2017.SAEED KHAN—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2016 3:28 PM CUT Sydney’s fireworks display said farewell to 2016 [with a tribute](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/01/sydney-new-years-eve-celebrations-honour-bowie-prince-and-wilder "undefined") to the late entertainers [David Bowie](http://time.com/4192120/david-bowie-duncan-jones-twitter/ "undefined"), [Prince](http://time.com/4588983/princes-estate-worth-200-million/ "undefined") and [Gene Wilder](http://time.com/4471442/gene-wilder-dead-history/ "undefined") as New Year’s Eve celebrations started today. The Australian city set off a 12-minute show featuring over 132 tons (120 metric tons) of fireworks over the Sydney Harbor, and anticipated an audience of 1.5 million people in person, _The_ _Guardian_ reports. At one moment in the show, celestial firework patterns in shapes of stars and fireworks lit up the sky as Bowie’s song “Space Oddity” played. During another tribute, the Sydney Harbor Bridge flashed a rainbow of colors to accompany music from Wilder’s film _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, the [Associated Press reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f09d6efbbfdb48e9825f0198a4114903/revelers-honor-late-celebrities-2016-era-chaos "undefined"). “This year, sadly, we saw the loss of many music and entertainment legends around the world,” fireworks show co-producer Catherine Flanagan [told the AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f09d6efbbfdb48e9825f0198a4114903/revelers-honor-late-celebrities-2016-era-chaos "undefined"). “So celebrating their music as part of Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks displays is an opportunity to reflect on the year that has been and what the future may hold.” Seven barges were used to launch the pyrotechnics, and the iconic bridge served as a focal point for the show. Almost half the visitors in the harbor travelled from abroad to see the spectacle, according to _The Guardian_, with about a billion more expected to tune into the show on television or online. \[[_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/01/sydney-new-years-eve-celebrations-honour-bowie-prince-and-wilder "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4619906/sydney-new-years-eve-fireworks-gene-wilder-prince-david-bowie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4619906/sydney-new-years-eve-fireworks-gene-wilder-prince-david-bowie/"},"headline":"Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Pay Tribute to Prince, David Bowie and Gene Wilder","datePublished":"2016-12-31T15:28:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:30:19.790Z","description":"The 12-minute show featured 120 tons of fireworks","url":"https://time.com/4619906/sydney-new-years-eve-fireworks-gene-wilder-prince-david-bowie/","keywords":["Australia","Entertainment","celebrities","Travel","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d16e8fef5ac47f9/6988b4358e0601b119468af5/sydney-harbor-2017-new-years-eve-fireworks-bowie-prince-gene-wilder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d16e8fef5ac47f9/6988b4358e0601b119468af5/sydney-harbor-2017-new-years-eve-fireworks-bowie-prince-gene-wilder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sydney harbor 2017 new years eve fireworks bowie prince gene wilder","caption":"sydney harbor 2017 new years eve fireworks bowie prince gene wilder","creditText":"SAEED KHAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/australia/","name":"Australia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4619906/sydney-new-years-eve-fireworks-gene-wilder-prince-david-bowie/","name":"Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Pay Tribute to Prince, David Bowie and Gene Wilder"}}]}] ```