BrimhamRocks

It's a cold, snowy, windy night here in England and Scotland, and our New Year's celebrations are being cancelled in several places, notably in Edinburgh. I've got an inch of snow so far, here in Northern England, and it's still coming down pretty heavily. I can hear a few fireworks off in the distance, but the sound is very muffled, and I'm sure many have changed their plans as a result of the conditions.

I hope the New Year's celebrations are going/will go well, wherever you are. Be merry and safe, and have a great night, everyone!

sheila

The cancellation of Edinburgh's Hogmanay has caused huge ructions here. I'd be interested in knowing what you, as travellers, think of the decision.

The cause was concern for safety in the very high winds.

Barbara

Well, I was right there in Princes Street, along with 125,000 other people. The street was so crowded that you could not move at all. The weather was awful. Nobody seemed to actually announce that the street party and fireworks had been cancelled. It was just a rumor that spread around and which we verified by talking to a police officer. I think they were still allowing access to the street party area after the event had been cancelled. Many people, including me as I spent 60 BP on "First Foot Club" memberships, are unhappy because there was no backup plan. Edinburgh is not really known for its balmy weather and it was really stupid not to have an alternative in place. Also, the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, the site of the major concert of the evening, has needed to be replaced since I lived in Edinburgh thirty years ago. When you consider all the money the city makes (made??) from the Hogmanay festivities, and the Festival which uses the same facility, for years and years, it's pretty chintzy of the city council not to spend some of it improving the venue and making it more weather proof. The fireworks scheduled for midnight were completely cancelled although most people seemed to think they would be set off the following night. No information about anything was given out by the city, but many are criticizing the organizer for the lack of a plan B. The organizer, Pete Irvine, has apparently been telling the council for several years that they needed to replace the Ross Bandstand with stronger structure.

The Hogmanay celebrations actually go on for several days, and there is some agreement amongst Edinburgh people that the best events take place on the "Night Afore" (that's the 30th to the non Scots around). We saw some of the entertainment in George Street that night, but missed the Strip the Willow unfortunately as we were having dinner with a bunch of my friends. On the 29th, there are a couple of good events.

I will never again recommend the street party. There are just too many people. Generally good-natured, but toooo many. It is still worth going though, so that you can take in the before-Hogmanay events. But on the 31st, make reservations well in advance for a lovely dinner, or go to a concert(we went to see Salsa Celtica in the Usher Hall) and plan to watch the fireworks - if there are any -from a place outside the street party area.

keith_l

We arrived at about 10.45 - walking towards Princes St from Haymarket, there were a lot of people telling us "it's cancelled" but they were mainly drunk so we didn't believe them!

In a slight defence of the council, there hadn't been a problem with the fireworks and weather in the last ten years so taking a risk analysis you wouldn't really need a back up plan. In addition, the fireworks could have been set off if there had been a constant wind - the problem there (as with the stands in the Gardens) was that it was gusting from 0 to 40 mph and they couldn't judge where the fireworks would land. Personally I'd rather have 100,000 disappointed people than one seriously injured or dead person.

Incidentally, it now appears that Edinburgh Council may not have had cancellation insurance in place for the fireworks, and also that they have now been landed with a set of fireworks which they need to use (they bought the fireworks and contracted the company to fire them.) They can't be used for the Festival - another company has this contract - so they are now sitting in a shed in Edinburgh. As a result, it looks like us residents are going to have to pick up (at least some) of the tab.

PatrickLondon

Why don't they just have an un-Hogmanay in boring old February? Or do what some loon did in London and organise a fireworks display for TV and try to tell people not to come and watch it in person...

Barbara

Keith, I do agree that it was better to cancel than to have people injured. However, it is quite clear now that the organising committe had given absolutely no thought as to how they would cancel at such a late hour. Nor had they made alternative plans, should cancellation become necessary. For the council to say that they've never needed to, because they were very lucky and had good weather for all the other years the event has been held is just unbelievable. There should have been back up plans in place for each of those years. At least now there might be, but the tourists who went to Edinburgh this New Year just lose out.

keith_l

Barbara - I totally agree, but being able to see some of the numpties (good Scottish word - basically someone with less intelligence than an idiot) who are in the ruling group on Edinburgh Council the lack of a back-up plan for the fireworks at least doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Since you bought First Foot Club tickets, you might be interested in this article from "The Scotsman" this week (you might need to register to read it, but it's free):

http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics....mp;id=15462004

Barbara

Keith, thanks for the link. I actually do read "The Scotsman" online every day, so I had already seen it. "Numpties" is a much more polite term than the ones my family in Edinburgh use!