9 Reasons Why Hogmanay in Edinburgh is the Best!
Whether you call it New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay, or Auld Years Night, Edinburgh is the place to be to celebrate it! From Edinburgh’s renowned Street Party to a serene Candlelit Concert, Edinburgh comes alive with celebrations, fireworks, and parties. Below you’ll find our curated list of events happening on Hogmanay and New Year’s Day, which we’re very sure will entice you to experience Hogmanay in Edinburgh for yourself. If that’s the case, we still have a few wonderful homes available over the New Year period, click here to browse for yourself.
1. Torchlight Procession
- When: 30th of December
- Where: Edinburgh City Centre
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/whats-on/torchlight-procession
As in previous years, the 2018 Torchlight Procession opens Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations. The Torchlight Procession has previously been referred to as the “river of fire”, due to the effect it creates. Last year, around 30,000 people come out for the event. This year, upon arrival at Holyrood Park, torchbearers will form the distinctive outline of Scotland. 14 wicker sculptures, each representing a region of Scotland and created by young people as part of #ScotArt will be placed within the outline and set ablaze as Scotland’s beating heart, marking the end of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018.
Photo Credit: Edinburgh Hogmanay
2. Prestonfield Hogmanay Ball
- When: 31st of December
- Where: Prestonfield House
- Website: www.prestonfield.com/HogmanayBall
Fancy celebrating the New Year in grandeur? Well, the Prestonfield Hogmanay Ball may be the perfect event for you. The ball will be held at Prestonfield’s Stables Ballroom, include a Champagne reception and a decadent four-course dinner, while a ceilidh band keeps you dancing all night, followed by a disco after midnight. But, be sure to book early!
Photo Credit: Prestonfield House Facebook
3. Concert in the Gardens
- When: 31st of December
- Where: West Princes Street Gardens
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/concert-in-the-gardens
Over the years, the Concert in the Gardens has seen various famous faces grace its stage as the headline act, and this year Franz Ferdinand, one of the standout bands from Scotland’s musical heritage, will be performing. This will be their first time ever on Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Concert in the Gardens stage, bringing their jagged riffs, hands-aloft choruses and euphoric sound to Edinburgh for a New Year’s Eve to Edinburgh.
Photo Credit: Visit Britain
4. Street Party
- When: 31st of December
- Where: Edinburgh City Centre
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/street-party
See in the New Year at one of the best street parties in the world. Edinburgh invites the world to share the love, embrace friends and celebrate the New Year in the home of Hogmanay. Party all night under the stars at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party hosted by Johnnie Walker, with every reveller receiving a free dram of Johnnie Walker Whisky to ring in the New Year and toast 2019 in style!
5. Candlelit Concert
- When: 31st of December
- Where: St Giles Cathedral
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/whats-on/candlelit-concert
This is a magical event you will not want to miss! The annual Candlelit Concert features the splendour of the courts of Versailles with Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum, famous for its iconic opening fanfare. The Baroque theme continues with J.S. Bach’s cantata for the last Sunday of the year, Gottlob! Nun geht das jahr zu Ende BWV 28, and the concert concludes with festive exuberance in Bach’s Magnificat.
6. Ceilidh Under the Castle
- When: 31st of December
- Where: West Princes Street Gardens
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/ceilidh-under-the-castle
At the foot of Castle Rock, in the shadow of Edinburgh’s iconic castle, dance the night away at a traditional Scottish ceilidh. Join hands with old friends and new to dance in the New Year with a full ceilidh band and plenty of local food and drink to keep you spinning all night.
Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images
7. Loony Dook
- When: 1st of January 2019
- Where: South Queensferry
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/whats-on/loony-dook
An albeit odd but fun post-Hogmanay tradition, the Loony Dook began on the 1st of January 1987 and has been going strong ever since. The Loony Dook consists of dressing up and running into the waters of the Firth of Forth to raise money for charity. So, get 2019 off to a fresh start with a bracing New Year’s Day dip in the freezing River Forth!
Photo Credit: Welcome to Scotland, Lloyd Smith
8. SCO: New Year Gala
- When: 1st of January 2019
- Where: Various Locations
- Website: www.usherhall.co.uk/whats-on/sco-new-year-gala-19
Welcome 2019 in sparkling style with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra! This New Year’s Day concert has all your favourite Viennese Waltzes and Polkas from the Strauss family, guaranteed to give you a skip in your step to start the year feeling upbeat.
9. Message from the Skies
- When: 1st-25th of January 2019
- Where: Usher Hall
- Website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com/message-from-the-skies
Lastly, Message from the Skies returns to Edinburgh’s Hogmanay on Tuesday 1 January with a selection of love letters written for Europe. The words of six internationally celebrated writers – Billy Letford, Chitra Ramaswamy, Kapka Kassabova, Louise Welsh, Stef Smith and William Dalrymple – will illuminate and animate buildings around the city during the first month of 2019.
Featured Self Catering Apartment – 13/3 Simpson Loan
Have we convinced you Edinburgh is the best place to celebrate the New Year? If so, 13/3 Simpson Loan is a beautiful holiday home for you. There’s a Scandi sense of hygge everywhere with sofas to curl up in and sheepskin rugs. The inviting living space is double height and is decorated in white. There are plantation style shutters on the huge windows and solid oak flooring. There’s a lovely airy feeling of luxury about the space. .
Browse the rest of our self catering homes in Edinburgh here!
Save
Leave a Comment