Half a million people are expected to converge on Melbourne's CBD on New Year's Eve as the city welcomes in 2026.

Fireworks and laser lights synchronised to a party soundtrack will operate from 27 rooftops as part of a $6 million celebration.

There will be two chances to catch the fireworks in Melbourne — at 9:30pm for young families then the main event at the stroke of midnight.

Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece says this year's New Year's fireworks will be the best the city has seen. (ABC News: Cameron Parke)

Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece says the display will be mesmerising, promising Melbourne its "biggest and best show yet".

"When you put that fireworks display together with the laser show, you have an unrivalled midnight moment here in Melbourne," he says.

He says the midnight show is designed to be viewed from afar, with new multi-directional lasers allowing the lights to be seen from the suburbs, not just in the CBD.

"Whether you're in the south, the north, the east or the west, if you can see the city skyline, you'll be able to see the fireworks and the lasers," Cr Reece says.

"A lot of cities around Australia have fireworks. Well, in Melbourne, we've got fireworks and lasers and I am confident we're going to put on the best show in Australia."

Where is the best place to see Melbourne's fireworks?

The City of Melbourne says the best places in the CBD to celebrate New Year's Eve and view both the family and midnight fireworks displays are at Victor Harbour in Docklands, Flagstaff Gardens, Kings Domain beside the Royal Botanic Gardens, and Treasury Gardens.

Where to head to celebrate New Year's Eve in Melbourne's CBD. (Supplied: City of Melbourne)

The celebration zones will have free music and entertainment, including DJs, street performers and silent discos from 6pm to 1am, and there will be food trucks and dining outlets.

Flagstaff Gardens has again been set up to host New Year's Eve crowds. (ABC News)

Does it cost anything to attend the fireworks?

While CBD venues are selling tickets and packages to private events, you don't have to make any bookings or pay any entry fees for the City of Melbourne's celebration zones.

Public transport is free from 6pm on New Year's Eve to 6am on New Year's Day.

So the only thing you need to pay for is your food. You can bring your own picnics, food and drinks to the celebration zones, but all areas of the CBD, except inside private venues, are alcohol-free.

All public events in Melbourne's CBD are free and do not require a booking. (ABC News)

How to get around Melbourne for New Year's Eve

There are quite a few road closures from 4pm on Wednesday, so it's best to take public transport to all CBD celebration zones.

There are accessible drop-off and pick-up points at all celebration zones.

Some of the road closures also apply to pedestrians and the walkways over the Yarra River — Northbank, Southbank and Sandridge bridges — will also be closed throughout the night.

Roads will be closed, affecting both vehicle and foot traffic, on New Year's Eve. (ABC News)

Passengers do not need to have their Myki cards on them to catch a train, tram or bus during the free travel period, including in regional areas. 

For V/Line passengers, your trip will also be free if it arrives in Melbourne after 6pm on New Year's Eve and for the first service to all regional destinations regardless of whether it leaves Melbourne before or after 6am on New Year's Day.

Transport Victoria says 750 extra services have been put on in Melbourne alone to help get everyone around their parties and gatherings, but they will all run on an altered timetable so it might be a good idea to check the schedule.

The Department of Transport and Planning's Jimmy O'Connell says hundreds of extra bus, train and tram services will run for New Year's revellers. (ABC News: Cameron Parke)

"Between the hours of 8:30pm until 11:30pm, Metro Trains will run a frequency of between 10 and 20 minute services and then from 12:15am until 3:30am, Metro Trains will run a frequency of between 5 and 20 minute services," the Department of Transport and Planning's Jimmy O'Connell said.

Parliament, Flagstaff and Melbourne Central stations are open until 3am. Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations are open all night, but Metro Tunnel services finish at 3pm and the stations will be closed from 7pm.

There will be more trams to get people in and out of the city, but some CBD stops will be closed because of the crowds.

What will security be like?

Victoria Police says it has rostered on an additional 2,500 officers across the state specifically for New Year's Eve events, with 500 of those in Melbourne's CBD.

"Those police will be our general duties police supported by our Public Order Response Teams, our Critical Incident Response Teams (CIRT), mounted police, water police," Acting Commander Troy Papworth said.

"We want people to come into the city and across the state to have a really safe night."

An extra 2,500 police officers have been rostered on across Victoria for New Year's Eve. (ABC News)

In the wake of the Bondi shooting, CIRT officers patrolled the MCG during the Boxing Day test with semi-automatic rifles, but Acting Commander Papworth said those officers would remain in their vehicles rather than being on foot on New Year's Eve.

He said the CBD, St Kilda foreshore and Geelong CBD had been declared designated search areas, allowing police to randomly stop and check anyone for a weapon.

"The areas we do choose for our designated areas are based on where we see people gathering, they're also based on intelligence. We put those designated areas in place to make sure that we're getting the best possible effect to keep the community safe.

"I want to stress that there's absolutely no [security] threat to any event in Victoria, but we're taking absolutely every precaution. That's why we've got such a strong police presence right across the state."

What will the weather be like?

After finally seeing some warm weather this summer, Melbourne is now expecting a cool to mild day on New Year's Eve.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a top of 19 degrees Celsius with some fairly strong southerly winds.

At this stage, it's expected to drop down to 14C overnight with the winds remaining about 20 to 30 kilometres an hour.

However, it will be warm in some parts of Victoria, including Mildura in the state's north-west, Wodonga and Rutherglen in the north, which are all expecting 33C.

Authorities issue warning on illegal fireworks

You cannot let off fireworks in Victoria if you are not a licensed pyrotechnician, and then only when you have a permit from local authorities.

Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner Joshua Fischer says as well as putting themselves and others at risk of serious injury, even death, people who set off illegal fireworks created a major fire risk.

"We're in summer, we've got a fire danger period right across Victoria now, the conditions are very dry with warmer weather comes that increased risk of bushfires or grassfires starting and metropolitan areas are not immune to that," he said.

Fire Rescue Victoria's Joshua Fischer says illegal fireworks pose a safety and bushfire risk. (ABC News)

For those with dogs, the RSPCA urges owners to exercise them before any fireworks start to try to tire them out, and feed them as it may help their anxiety.

It says dogs and cats should be kept inside, blinds should be closed, music or the TV could be turned on and, if it possible, owners could create a comfortable hiding place for pets such as a cardboard box with blankets.

"If you can, stay home with your dog," the RSPCA says. 

"Let your dog be with you, remain calm and perform your normal activities. Avoid fussing over your pet excessively as this may encourage anxious behaviour — just try to engage them in normal activities such as playing and reward them for their calm behaviour.

"Dogs who panic can choke themselves on a collar or lead, so never tether your dog during fireworks and never use a choke chain to restrain your dog."

It says dogs and horses are especially known to hurt themselves or get lost while trying to run away from fireworks, so make sure microchip details are up to date.

Wildlife, including birds, kangaroos, wallabies and wombats, can also be injured if they flee onto roads.

Fireworks debris is toxic if ingested by animals.

Wildlife Victoria should be called if you come across an injured wild animal.

For those staying at home, the ABC plans to cross to Melbourne during its New Year's Eve special. The show will be broadcast on ABC TV and ABC iview, and across ABC socials.