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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Patrick Williams

Rain holds off for night of fireworks and flyovers at Riverfire

The threat of showers and storms failed to disrupt Brisbane's Riverfire fireworks display, with 11 tonnes of pyrotechnics going off, on schedule and without a hitch.

The event was under a dark cloud earlier on Saturday, with Bureau of Meteorology warning an afternoon and evening of wild weather, including damaging winds and large hail.

But about an hour before the show, BOM gave the all clear.

At 7:04pm, right on time, one of the Royal Australia Air Force's EA-18G Growlers performed its second flyover of the day.

It signalled the start of a 20-minute display, featuring 11 tonnes of fireworks set off from city rooftops and barges on the river.

This year the event was set to a soundtrack celebrating sci-fi and superheroes.

Songs featured included remixes of theme tunes to popular TV shows including Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, as well as movies such as Back to the Future, Terminator, and Star Wars.

An estimated crowd of half a million people gathered in and around Brisbane to watch the fireworks, with the biggest crowds in the South Bank Parklands.

Queensland Police Service Superintendent Virginia Nelson praised the crowd behaviour and said there were no significant policing issues.

Queensland Rail, which put on extra services to deal with the large crowds, had no major issues on Saturday night.

The Growler performed a flyover earlier in the day, as did a C-17A Globemaster. There was also an aerial performance by the Air Force Roulettes.

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