London’s biggest ever New Year’s Eve fireworks show was produced by Identity.

Organised by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the 12-minute spectacular included 12,000 fireworks from Titanium Fireworks, 400 drones from Celestial, lighting designed by Tim Routledge and music directed by Kojo Samuel and On The Sly. More than 100,000 tickets were sold for the return of the public celebration along the bank of the Thames with millions more watching it online and on TV.

The first of its kind since 2020, due to the pandemic, Identity worked in close collaboration with the Greater London Authority (GLA) to develop the “with love from London” theme sending a powerful message of love and unity to the world. Identity produced two shows in parallel: the South Bank spectacle to a live audience and an enhanced drone display on Horse Guards Parade adding an exciting new element to the show for the broadcast audience.

Planning for the show started in July with soundtrack development, followed by pyrotechnics design, lighting design and programming.

The show set-up started off-site before Christmas and moved on-site to central London from December 27. Identity had a core team of 55 people on the ground with final preparations, included rigging the lighting and pyrotechnics on the lastminute.com London Eye – all work was completed within hours of the start of the show. More than 25 tonnes of equipment were used to rig the pyrotechnic effects, using 18 kilometres of cable and wire and three pyro barges in place in front of the London Eye.

Hannah Clark, project director at Identity, said: “Identity was honoured and proud to support the Mayor of London in the delivery of London’s biggest New Year’s Eve show, the first time Identity has had the privilege of delivering this important event. Identity would like to thank the many stakeholders involved in supporting us on the delivery of this major event and the general public for its amazing response to the show as a global spotlight fell on the capital, sharing ‘with love from London’ with the world.”

The event highlighted the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 victory, 50 years of London’s Pride and showed solidarity with Ukraine. Drones paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II and honoured King Charles III along with news and voice clips from the late Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Dame Judi Dench and Peter Tatchell from the Gay Liberation Front.

Sadiq Khan said: “I’m delighted that Londoners and visitors to the capital were once again able to join together on the banks of the River Thames to welcome in the new year with our best ever celebration. Millions from around the world also watched our unique show, which brought together fireworks, drones, lighting and music to remember key moments in 2022 and look ahead to 2023. I’m proud that we have sent a message of love, hope and unity and I am excited for 2023 as we continue to build a better, fairer and more prosperous city for everyone.”

Identity is an award-winning events agency. The agency has been responsible for the delivery of COP26 in Glasgow, and the NATO Leaders Summit, London as well as working with global brands such as New Balance, Unilever, Panasonic and Siemens among many others.