世界有数なお大晦日行事がオーストラリア最大・最古都市シドニーで行う。
One of the world’s most renowned New Year’s Eve parties takes place annually in Sydney, Australia’s oldest and largest city.
日本で紅白歌合戦が行うと同じようにシドニーでは同市の有名なハーバー・ブリッジとオペラ・ハウスを背景に豪華な花火大会を開催する伝統がある。
Just as Japan has a New Year’s Eve tradition of the Red-White Singing Contest, Sydney’s custom to mark the end of one year and herald the start of another involves setting off fireworks with its famous harbor bridge and opera house as a backdrop.
世界中から真夏のシドニー大晦日を楽しめるために大勢がやって来るし、今年俳優レオナルド・ディカプリオとジェーミー・フォックスがそこでパーティを開いて新年を迎えた後個人ジェットでオーストラリアと時差18時間があるラス・ベーガスに飛べ再び新年を迎える予定だ。
People come from all over the world to celebrate the midsummer fireworks spectacle, with this year’s celebrants including Hollywood superstars Leonardo di Caprio and Jamie Foxx, who plan to welcome the new year in Sydney, then hop onto a private jet and fly to Las Vegas to take advantage of the time difference and be ready to greet the start of 2013 all over again.
生でシドニーの大晦日花火大会を観賞するが予想100万人で中継など世界中に10億万人に見られるそうだ。
About 1 million people are expected to see Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks live, while another estimated 1 billion worldwide will watch the event on television.
Sydney’s fireworks are a comparatively recent event, starting in the 1980s, but with the city’s iconic landmarks only taking center stage in annual events that began only in 1996. Australian superstar singer Kylie Minogue will be a producer of this year’s fireworks display.
ちなみに、皮肉的にシドニーの花火が世界中に有名だが、オーストラリア人と花火が複雑な関係がある。日本で真夏を象徴しどこにでも売られている花火がオーストラリアでは個人レベル手には入れない。乾燥しているオーストラリアでは火事を起こしやすい花火の使用が禁じられている。
Incidentally — and ironically considering the fame of Sydney’s fireworks — Aussies have a complicated relationship with fireworks. Although most Japanese regard fireworks as a symbol of summer and setting them off is a tradition with crackers and the like on sale in stores nationwide, it has been almost impossible since the 1970s for individual Australians to buy fireworks, which are banned for individual use, ostensibly due to the danger of fire in the tinderbox dry heat of the summer Down Under.
Sydney New Year’s Eve Official Site
