London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks displays near the London Eye take place along the River Thames.
The annual display is centered on the South Bank and the Westminster area, with fireworks launched from barges on the river and from landmarks near the London Eye. The setting places the spectacle beside several famous London buildings, including the Palace of Westminster and St Paul’s Cathedral farther east.
London’s large organized fireworks tradition developed in the modern era as the city sought a major public celebration for the turn of the year. The event is watched by ticketed spectators along the river and by television audiences in the United Kingdom and internationally. The display typically follows the final seconds of the year’s countdown.
The River Thames is sometimes confused with the nearby River Lea or with the Seine in Paris, but the London celebration’s central waterfront is unmistakably the Thames. Fireworks, music, and the midnight countdown are combined into one of the capital’s biggest annual public events.