London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks is one of the world’s most watched annual live events, bringing millions of people together in a shared moment broadcast across the UK and internationally.

For the 2020/21 celebrations, the show was completely reimagined as a broadcast-only production. With public gatherings suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional crowd event along the Thames was replaced by a city-wide television spectacle designed specifically for audiences watching from home.

ON THE SLY worked alongside lead creative agency Jack Morton as music directors and soundtrack producers, delivering the music for a programme that combined fireworks, lighting, drones and performance across multiple London landmarks.

Rather than focusing on a single location, the show unfolded across the capital. Fireworks and lighting illuminated sites including The O2, Wembley Stadium, Tower Bridge and London Bridge, while a countdown projected from The Shard marked the arrival of midnight. Above The O2, 300 drones created the largest drone display ever seen in the UK, forming images that reflected defining moments of the year.

The narrative of the show reflected the experience of 2020, paying tribute to the NHS and key figures such as Captain Sir Tom Moore while recognising cultural and social moments including the Black Lives Matter movement. The broadcast concluded with a message from Sir David Attenborough looking ahead to the year to come.

Music played a central role in connecting these different locations and moments into a single story. The soundtrack combined carefully curated commercial music with archive audio, spoken word and broadcast moments, helping guide viewers through reflection on the year just passed while building toward a hopeful start to 2021.

Working closely with creative, technical and broadcast teams, ON THE SLY developed a soundtrack that linked each chapter of the programme together while integrating precisely with fireworks, drone choreography and lighting across the city skyline.

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ON THE SLY has delivered music direction and soundtrack production for multiple editions of London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, helping shape one of the world’s most widely watched annual live events.

This project forms part of our work creating soundtracks for fireworks and drone shows around the world.