The stage is set, the fireworks are primed and the forecast is fine for the New Year's Eve Octagon Concert tonight.
Dunedin City Council community events co-ordinator Marilyn Anderson said the stage for the concert was the same size as last year but the canopy was larger.
Last New Year's Eve, more rain fell between 8pm and 11pm than had fallen during the rest of December.
‘‘It absolutely hammered down,'' Mrs Anderson said.
The concert was ‘‘canned'' at 10.30pm because musicians on stage were performing in puddles of rain.
This year, the ‘‘veranda'' protecting the musicians was 150cm longer, to avoid another cancellation if there was another deluge.
Thankfully, the forecast for tonight was for fine weather, she said.
Last year, the rain cleared at 11.20pm and most of the Octagon fireworks were launched, she said.
This year, if all went to plan, $12,000 worth of fireworks would illuminate the sky for a ‘‘spectacular'' seven-minute show.
Before the fireworks, bands Idol Frets and The Easy Hearts would play from 8pm.
At midnight, the Robbie Burns Cannon would fire a single salute, and then Auld Lang Syne would be played for a crowd sing-along before the fireworks.
In the Octagon carriageway, nine stalls would sell food and drinks, including coffee.
A liquor ban would be in place at the all-ages event.
‘‘We will have a good contingent of police and security,''
