Primrose Hill New Year’s Eve fireworks: hill to close over crowd-safety concerns
Primrose Hill New Year’s Eve fireworks viewing will not take place this year. Royal Parks has confirmed the hill will be closed overnight on 31 December, citing crowd-safety risks and reduced capacity to manage very large numbers without specialist policing support.
Tens of thousands usually walk up to the north London viewpoint to watch the citywide display. Royal Parks said that, without the dedicated Royal Parks police unit, safely handling crowds of up to 30,000 in open parkland would be “severely diminished.”
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A spokesperson added: “With the potential for such a large number of attendees, and the absence of the dedicated Royal Parks Police, we are unable to support the necessary safety and crowd management arrangements. Closing Primrose Hill overnight is the only responsible course of action.”
The Metropolitan Police said the closure should not be attributed to the disbanding of its Royal Parks Operational Command Unit. Commander Nick John, who leads the New Year’s Eve operation, said: “It is completely inaccurate to suggest that New Year’s Eve policing at Primrose Hill would be affected by the disbanding of the Royal Parks team.” He added that officers are allocated to events across London according to threat and risk.
The Royal Parks decision follows an earlier announcement that the Met would close the specialist unit to help fill a £260m budget gap. While the wider London fireworks event remains ticketed on the Thames, the Primrose Hill New Year’s Eve fireworks crowds have grown informally in recent years, creating pinch points at entrances and on narrow paths.
Primrose Hill will also close from 22:00 between 31 October and 9 November to deter anti-social behaviour around Halloween and Bonfire Night. Gates will reopen each morning at 06:00.
For visitor information about the park and seasonal opening hours, see the official Primrose Hill page.
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