It used to draw crowds of more than 300,000 but for the first time in nearly four decades, there will be no planned Skyworks display on Australia Day in Perth this year, as the city reckons with the massive cost and waning interest.
The huge fireworks display that once united the city will instead be replaced by a scaled-down event featuring a drone and small fireworks show in Langley Park.
Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas said the change was due to community sentiment and expense.
"I ... understand that people don't want to party on January 26 anymore," he said.
"The view of the date now is different to what it was."
Mr Zempilas said the City was trying to find a "middle ground" – an appropriate mix of celebrations for families, Australia's newest citizens, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Almost 40 years of history
But the new format draws a line under one of WA's only large scale public events.
The tradition began in 1985 with people making the trek to the Swan River foreshore — or even from rooftops, bridges and other vantage points across the metro area — to watch the spectacle.
Families would bring along their portable radios and tune into a local station that would sync music to the light show.
Some of Perth's tallest buildings would also launch fireworks from their rooftops.
"Once upon a time, the Skyworks have been really a city-wide event," Mr Zempilas said.
"It almost didn't matter where you were in the city, you were able to take advantage of it."
But the Skyworks had its low points.
In 2004, police claimed they witnessed one of the worst cases of crowd violence at the event, with dozens of people taken to hospital and several others arrested.
The unruly and drunken behaviour continued each Skyworks show until a line was drawn in 2010 and a total alcohol ban was imposed.
Designated drinking zones were introduced the next year with police taking a much tougher stance on drunkenness and anti-social behaviour.
In 2017, the show had to be cancelled at the last minute after a plane crashed during the pre-fireworks air-show, killing pilot Peter Lynch and his partner Endah Cakrawati.
It was cancelled again in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Skyworks returned the next year but concerns over virus transmission resulted in a much smaller crowd attending the show.
South Perth cites cost concerns
In past years, hundreds of thousands of people also packed along the South Perth foreshore to get a city view, but that is to be no more.
With the revised Perth show unable to be viewed on the south bank, the City of South Perth is not hosting any afternoon events.
Their Australia Day celebrations will be limited to the morning flag-raising ceremony, which includes Citizen of the Year Awards and a barbecue breakfast.
City of South Perth Mayor Greg Milner said a decline in people attending Skyworks cost the council a significant amount of money.
While the 2020 event had around 106,000 people viewing the show from the South Perth foreshore, in 2022, there were between 30,000-40,000 people.
“There is a significant reduction in expenditure because in previous years, we've had to effect road closures, have special patrols [and] do a whole range of things to accommodate what would be really, really large numbers of people down here,” Mr Milner said.
The 2022 Australia Day celebration only brought in around a third of the $904,808 cost to host the celebrations.
'Reframing of the day'
The Perth Lord Mayor said the revised format shows sound leadership on behalf of the City.
"[Birak Concert] alongside our biggest ever citizenship ceremony, which we have each year on January 26, demonstrates the reframing of the day from the City of Perth point of view," Mr Zempilas said.
"Until such time as there is a change of date mandated by Australian federal parliament, the City of Perth will look to mark the day respectfully, appropriately for the mood of the community.
"But also appropriately for those who want to be able to come together with their family and friends on this important Australian day.
"That's the sort of leadership that I feel the City of Perth is able to provide."
Mr Zempilas said he still expects Langley Park will be packed with people on Thursday night, eager to watch the re-imagined City of Lights show.
"Fireworks are a huge component of it still, and they will remain a huge component of it but we know people love the drone technology," he said.
"We know that drones enable us to tell a different story to the one that fireworks enable us to tell and so bringing those two great forms of entertainment together is something we're really proud to be able to do."
A separate Invasion Day rally will be held at midday and will make its way to the Birak Concert from Forrest Chase.
Heading to the Perth CBD on January 26? Here's what the City is putting on:
- Australia Day Family Zone — 3:00pm to 9:00pm, Langley Park
- Birak Concert 3:00pm — 7:30pm, Supreme Court Gardens
- Entertainment Zone — 3:00pm – 8:00pm, Langley Park
- City of Lights Show — 8:15pm – 8:45pm, Langley Park
