Millions of people across the UK tuned in to watch the annual firework display in London last night as the countdown to the New Year began. But for ticket holders hoping to see the display in real life, the experience wasn’t quite as magical as some had hoped.
Dozens of people took to social media platform X to criticise the ticketing of the event which led to “huge crowds” and “no way to get in”.
This has prompted some to request refunds having shared their frustration at the view they received despite paying for a ticket. Some footage has showed people breaking barriers in a bid to watch the show.
Meanwhile, others attempted to get a glimpse of the display in nearby London streets that were not ticketed. One video that has appeared on TikTok shows a huge crowd of people watching the midnight show through a small gap in between buildings.
While the spot did offer a view of the fireworks from afar, the filmer complained of “b***** crowds” as he spanned the area that showed hundreds of people hoping to catch a glimpse.
Other parts of London were said to be full of people without tickets hoping to catch a view, leading to “chaos” in streets. One person wrote on social media platform X: “Last night’s London fireworks were such a disaster for so many people.
“Hour long queues, crowd crushing, refused entry & much more. Why were tickets sold if there was not the appropriate resources to handle the crowds safely?”
Another said: “Absolute chaos trying to queue – with tickets – for Waterloo Bridge London fireworks. Queued for hours and eventually became dangerously overcrowded and couldn’t get on.”
Sadiq Khan warned those without tickets to avoid central London, but thousands still hoped to catch a good view of the display.
He wrote on Sunday: “Remember, you must have a ticket to view the #LondonNYEFireworks from any of our viewing areas. If you don’t have a ticket, watch live on @BBCOne or celebrate elsewhere in our great city.”
Another video shared on X showed hundreds of people queuing to watch the show, with the filmer writing: “POV: You try to see the fireworks in London without paying and quickly realise you should have stayed at home.”
One person claimed they had been queuing since 9pm with a ticket but were unable to get into the viewing point in time for the show.
