business - 2026-06-20

Ferris wheel opens on Manly Beach for month-long winter stay

Source: manlyobserver.com.au

A Ferris wheel now stands on Manly Beach opposite the Corso, marking the centrepiece of this year's Rise Manly winter festival and adding a new attraction to the beachfront for the next month. For locals, the installation is significant not only because of its size, at more than 25 metres tall, but because it is the first Ferris wheel to be placed on Manly's ocean side foreshore. The wheel went up ahead of the festival's official opening on Friday 19 June. While it had originally been scheduled only for the festival period, from 19 to 28 June, its stay has been extended and it will now remain in place until Sunday 19 July. That gives residents and visitors well beyond the festival's core dates to take a ride. Its arrival also carries a layer of local history. The installation is being described as the closest Manly has come to reviving the old Fun Pier wheel, which operated at Manly Wharf on the harbour side from 1931 until it was demolished in 1989. This new version is in a different setting, facing the beach rather than the wharf, but the comparison is likely to resonate with long-time locals familiar with that earlier landmark. For anyone planning a visit, the wheel operates...