Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party
The Street Party (tickets, review) is perhaps the best-known event in the 3-day Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival. The New Year street party is a ticketed event that takes place the length of Princes Street, with live bands, dancing in the street, and street theatre troupes mingling with crowds.
Following countdown fireworks at 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm, the street party climaxes with the bells of Big Ben at midnight, and a dramatic fireworks display above Edinburgh Castle and from Calton Hill to herald in the New Year. This is followed by a joining of hands as the crowd sings Auld Lang Syne, a kissathon, and more partying into the wee wee hours both on the street and around the city.
The festivities get going when the stages and screens go live at 9pm. Access is by street party ticket and booze is permitted so long as it is not in cans and glass containers. There are also some pay bars and food outlets within the street party area. Ticket pass-outs are not permitted (leaving the arena and trying to gain re-entry) and there is also no entry after 11pm.
The Concert In The Gardens and The Keilidh also take place within the Street Party cordon, although these require separate paid tickets to get into.
The headline event is the Concert in the Gardens (which you need a ticket for AS WELL AS a street party ticket) is headlined in 2012-13 by Simple Minds with support by Scottish indie band The View and Edinburgh band Bwani Junction.
The Mound DJ Stage: A new initiative in 2012/2013 is "REW1ND3R: The Biggest Party – In Years" which will play from 60 years (1953 - 2013) of pop hits, each year selected at random by a Wheel of Fortune. In what is being called the "biggest openair nightclub", music will be broadcast with sound and accompanying video, from the DJ stage at the top of The Mound situated under Assembly Hall and overlooking the Street Party to screens and speakers the length of Princes Street. The show is compiled and created by DJ Swiss along with VJ’s Buttercup and Pixels.
Waverley Stage: The Maccabees, Reverend and the Makers, The OK Social Club
The Scottish Stage: The Stage moves this year to Frederick Street (between George St & Princes St) Indie-folk sextet Admiral Fallow headlines with Lau and Shooglenifty in support.
Television coverage and Hogmanay livestreams
In the past Hogmanay has been broadcast live on television by Sky News and the BBC have webcast the celebrations.
In 2011/2012, there was a 1 hour live video stream starting at 11.30pm, with viewing limited to 20,000, on a first come/first served basis. The webcast was archived until Tuesday 2 January 2012, 11pm (GMT).
You can also try and catch the celebrations on Edinburgh webcams although the feeds are usually unable to handle the spike in Hogmanay traffic.
Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party History
Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party has been scaled back over the years. When Unique Events started organising the Street Party in 1993 it was a free, non-ticketed event.
Then in 1999, huge crowds of around 300,000 crushed into the city centre and railings collapsed on Princes Street, with hundreds of revellers injured. Organisers responded by creating a gated area within the city centre for the 1997-1998 Hogmanay Street Party.
The event has since gone from around 180,000 revellers of the millennium Hogmanay party to around 80,000 within a smaller cordoned-off area.
The Street Party was cancelled in 2003-2004 and in 2006-2007 due to bad weather conditions, in particular strong winds.
The event has been affected in the past by ongoing tram works.
Free night buses are laid on for revellers.
Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party Tickets, News & Info
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Edinburgh's Hogmanay Reviews
