ALL the tickets have been snapped up for one of the biggest parties the region has ever seen.

The New Year's Eve celebrations on Newcastle's Quayside and Haymarket promise to rival the best in the country, with all 36,000 wristbands needed to gain access to the celebrations having been sold.

There will be fireworks, live music, street theatre and a procession through the city.

A highlight will be the animation of the Tyne Bridge with lighting and imported fireworks, which will create a waterfall effect from the bridge.

Another high point will be the lighting of the Millennium Beacon by 14-year-old Helenlee Whalley and her brothers Kurt, ten, and Graham, 12, of South Stanley, County Durham.

The family was given the honour of lighting the beacon after nursing terminally-ill mother Helen, 32, who died of cancer last year.

Chief inspector of Newcastle's Market Street police station, David Jackson, said that searches for glass would be carried out at entrance points to the Quayside.

He said: "This year's celebrations will be safer than previous years, because we have now had more experience in dealing with this type of situation."

The show is produced by Event International, on behalf of Newcastle City Council, which has received Lottery funding from the Millennium Commission to stage the event.