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Hogmany Celebrations in Edinburgh
When you think of Scotland in connection with celebrations, probably the first one that comes to people’s minds is Hogmanay – the Scottish New Year celebration. It’s certainly one of the largest and most lavish festival celebrations of the year in Scotland, and nowhere more so than in Edinburgh.
Every year since 1992 Edinburgh has celebrated Hogmanay in real style beginning with a wonderful torchlit procession through the city centre streets, and ending after several days of intense partying. The torchlight procession is rather wonderful to see, with hundreds of torches of fire being carried in a line through the city centre. Fire has long been a part of traditional Hogmanay celebrations, it is said that carrying forward a flame you are burning away the old to make space for the new, and bringing the light of knowledge from one year into the next. So this procession is just a modern take on a very long standing tradition.
Street parties take place everywhere across the city, and in the city centre a ticket can be purchased that allows you to partake in various events on New Years Eve itself. Actually this is so much a part of the Hogmanay festivities in the area that many hotels offer a Street Party Pass as part of the package deal you buy when you stay with them at this time of year. Many also offer special meals and other treats too. If you’ve not stayed in Edinburgh during hogmanay before, then expect to party hard and have a lot of fun.
Street theatre is a big part of Edinburgh culture and it’s displayed during Hogmanay too with various events taking place across the city centre, and ending on the 1st of January 2009 with a new celebration called Feet First which has been created to be a new and innovative event bringing together over 120 performance artists and 13 new pieces of work. It takes place on the Royal Mile which is known for it’s street theatre through the ages.
Drinking and eating are big parts of Hogmanay culture, and you’ll find plenty of festive fayre available across the city in the various restaurants, from turkey dinners, to Scottish smoked salmon, traditional black bun and lots more. A wee dram of whisky doesn’t go down badly either, and anyone who’s tall and dark haired may find themselves in demand as a ‘first footer’ – another Scottish tradition said to bring good luck to households when the first person to cross the threshold of the home in the New Year is a tall dark haired stranger bearing a gift of black bun or coal.
At midnight when the pipes have played, and the bells of the clocks have chimed to tell everyone that the New Year is now here, you’ll hear the place resounding with cheers and loud voices joined together in song singing the most traditional song of the Hogmanay festival Auld Lang Syne. A song that’s carried it’s voice far across the world and become part of many New Years celebrations everywhere.
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If you have been tempted by this article, Edinburgh offers lots of different types of hogmanay accommodation ranging in budget and quality.
Love, Where is Your Fire? – Brooke Fraser (Lyrics)
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