The big question on New Year's Eve in Sydney ... will be going up in flames.
A giant question mark will prompt revellers to examine the city and themselves at the annual extravaganza, which also stars a blazing coathanger and a diamond on the Harbour Bridge (to mark its 75th anniversary in 2007).
The event's creative director Wayne Harrison said question marks would be a major part of the "Diamond Night in Emerald City" theme.
''We ask questions of ourselves at New Year's Eve all the time...we are also questioning our national values and what sort of city we want to live in,'' he said.
''[David Williamson's play about Sydney] Emerald City was a great questioner of what sort of people we are and what sort of city this is.''
This year's centrepiece "bridge effect" will feature 1000 shimmering lights over a 100-metre-long by 45-metre-high section of the structure.
Organisers have promised this year's fireworks extravaganza will outshine last year's, with 11,000 shells and 10,000 shooting comets among the 100,000 pyrotechnics effects.
Speaking at the event's launch today, the City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said more than a million people were expected around the harbour to watch the display, the theme of which would be 'A Diamond Night in the Emerald City', drawing on elements of The Wizard of Oz.
She said this year's celebrations would again feature hourly events from 1pm, while children would have a special role during the 9pm family fireworks.
Kids will be asked to click their heels together three times as red slippers like those worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz are projected onto the bridge pylons.
"This year children will gain unique powers to create something magical on the harbour," Ms Moore said.
"I can't tell you what they will see, but I can say it will enrapture children all over the city and adults will probably like it as well."
The event's creative director, Wayne Harrison, said its music would be "very eclectic - from the Foo Fighters to Prokofiev", also including tunes from The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia and Superman Returns.
He said the first of the three "bridge effects" - the question mark, the coathanger and the diamond - would be turned on at 8pm, with "interplay" between them during the night.
The emergency medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia was announced as Sydney's official 2006 New Year's Eve charity.
A giant question mark will prompt revellers to examine the city and themselves at the annual extravaganza, which also stars a blazing coathanger and a diamond on the Harbour Bridge (to mark its 75th anniversary in 2007).
The event's creative director Wayne Harrison said question marks would be a major part of the "Diamond Night in Emerald City" theme.
''We ask questions of ourselves at New Year's Eve all the time...we are also questioning our national values and what sort of city we want to live in,'' he said.
''[David Williamson's play about Sydney] Emerald City was a great questioner of what sort of people we are and what sort of city this is.''
This year's centrepiece "bridge effect" will feature 1000 shimmering lights over a 100-metre-long by 45-metre-high section of the structure.
Organisers have promised this year's fireworks extravaganza will outshine last year's, with 11,000 shells and 10,000 shooting comets among the 100,000 pyrotechnics effects.
Speaking at the event's launch today, the City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said more than a million people were expected around the harbour to watch the display, the theme of which would be 'A Diamond Night in the Emerald City', drawing on elements of The Wizard of Oz.
She said this year's celebrations would again feature hourly events from 1pm, while children would have a special role during the 9pm family fireworks.
Kids will be asked to click their heels together three times as red slippers like those worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz are projected onto the bridge pylons.
"This year children will gain unique powers to create something magical on the harbour," Ms Moore said.
"I can't tell you what they will see, but I can say it will enrapture children all over the city and adults will probably like it as well."
The event's creative director, Wayne Harrison, said its music would be "very eclectic - from the Foo Fighters to Prokofiev", also including tunes from The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia and Superman Returns.
He said the first of the three "bridge effects" - the question mark, the coathanger and the diamond - would be turned on at 8pm, with "interplay" between them during the night.
The emergency medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia was announced as Sydney's official 2006 New Year's Eve charity.