Europe is a dancer
Hogmanay gets Euro appeal
Underbelly has announced its 2018/19 Hogmanay events with a three day affair that sets out to celebrate Europe – and Scotland’s ties to Europe – while sharing the love and embracing friends old and new.
That European connection sets out on December 30 with Symphonic Ibiza, a classical take on clubbing on the party island, and continues right up to the bells, which will be seen in with a firework display orchestrated to a soundtrack by German techno-marching band Meute.
German techno-marching band Meute will be appearing and orchestrating the Bells. Pic: Jennifer Schmid
Speaking at the press launch of this year’s Hogmanay celebrations, councillor Donald Wilson, the council’s culture convenor, could not have been more emphatic.
“We are celebrating our links with Europe and our long shared history with Europe and a theme of We Love You!” he said.
“This is a celebration of our longstanding historic relationship with Europe. Particularly here in Scotland and in Edinburgh we have lots of historic links – for example the auld alliance with France and many multitudinous other links going back, so we are celebrating that.”
The European links include welcoming 1990s German Eurodance outfit Snap! – famous for The Power and Rhythm is a Dancer.
Street Party
For the main event, the big Hogmanay street party sees the return of the producers and directors of last year’s beefed-up event, who used Princes Street as it is was a theatre stage.
Among the acts are Compagnie Transe Express, a troupe of French performance artistes who will bring their own unique form of anarchic and hugely entertaining street theatre. Another French outfit, Compagnie Des Quidams, will lead a herd of larger than life glowing white horses as they wind their way along the Princes Street.
FierS à Cheval (La Compagnie des Quidams). Pic: Marc Van Canneyt.
Louise Marshall returns with her all female Diva and Districts Pipes and Drums, Edinburgh aerialists All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre animate the skies and, after their big hit at last year’s Street Party, the Got Soul! Choir return – appearing throughout the night to lead the party-goers in song. PyroCeltica will dazzle with their show of fire theatre portraying Celtic myths and folklore.
Edinburgh’s own Trendy Wendy leads the way on Hogmanay, getting the party started, as for hosts there will be none other than Love Island’s Aftersun DJs The Mac Twins who return to their home city.
For Ne’er day, Underbelly is making a small step back towards the big family events ranging across the Old-Town of recent years, with with a free to attend First Footers Family Ceilidh in the McEwan Hall.
The hall will also host two concerts in the afternoon and evening. At 4pm Capercaillie are inviting guest musicians to join them to bring the sounds of the European family of nations together in an afternoon of shared cultural celebration.
Then at 8pm, international Galician folk star Carlos Nunez joins special guests from the cream of the Scottish music scene for an evening of musical exchange.
Last year’s innovation Message from the Skies returns, starting on running from Ne’er Day to Burns Night, with a celebration of Scotland’s literature, in a co-commission with Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Six Love Letters to Europe will be projected onto iconic buildings and landmarks, marking Scotland’s shared cultural, historic and social connections with this family of nations. The six Scottish writers, Billy Letford, Chitra Ramaswamy, Kapka Kassabova, Louise Welsh, Stef Smith and William Dalrymple represent the worlds of poetry, journalism, fiction, travel, history and theatre to write their love letters to Europe with a range of different composers and projection artists from Scotland.
Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival said: “Hot on the heels of Val McDermid’s swashbuckling story for the city, this year we’ve opened up the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay commission and invited a handful of the most exciting writers from Scotland’s next generation.
“This year’s Message from the Skies comes in six very different stories – but together they shine a bright light on the impressive range of Scotland’s literary talent.”
Full details on the Edinburgh Hogmanay website: www.edinburghshogmanay.com.
Listings
30 DECEMBER 2018
BABY LOVES DISCO HOGMANAY BASH, 1 – 3pm
£9 (+ £1 booking fee)
0-6 years. 20% discount for EH postcode holders
Tickets are per person, babes in arms go free
Get kilted and booted for 2 hours of Hogmanay dayclubbing! Take a celebratory look back over the music of 2018 and with nostalgic pop floor-fillers from the days before parenthood struck, for all the generations to enjoy together.
TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION, 7pm
£12 with torch, + £1 booking fee / £3 without torch
The Procession returns to its new route down the Royal Mile, starting from three different points, High Street, South Bridge and North Bridge, winding between Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament to reach Holyrood Park where torchbearers will form the distinctive outline of Scotland with, at its heart, 14 wicker sculptures created as part of the #ScotArt youth engagement project.
SYMPHONIC IBIZA, 8pm (doors at 7pm)
£50 / £40 /£30 (+ £3 booking fee)
A live 15 piece orchestra joins renowned club DJ Andy Joyce (Cream, Eden, Ministry of Sound, Creamfields) to create stirring concert of club classics under the dome of McEwan Hall. The show comes off the back of a BBC Radio 1 performance in Ibiza this summer and makes its UK premiere at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
31 DECEMBER 2018
BABY LOVES DISCO HOGMANAY BASH, 1 – 3pm
£9 (+ £1 booking fee)
0-6 years. 20% discount for EH postcode holders
Tickets are per person, babes in arms go free
Get kilted and booted for 2 hours of Hogmanay dayclubbing! Take a celebratory look back over the music of 2018 and with nostalgic pop floor-fillers from the days before parenthood struck, for all the generations to enjoy together.
BAIRNS AFORE, 5pm (doors at 4pm)
£20 / £12 /£9 /£7.50 (+ £1 booking fee)
Families and young people can celebrate their Hogmanay well before the bells in Princes Street Gardens at Bairns Afore. Massaoke, the live band and singalong sensation present a family friendly version which will have everyone dancing and singing their hearts out before a stunning ‘midnight’ fireworks moment at 6pm giving the Bairns their midnight moment with plenty of time to get them home for bed.
CANDLELIT CONCERT, 6pm (doors at 5pm)
£18.50 (+ £1 booking fee)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum, famous for its iconic opening fanfare. J.S.Bach’s cantata for the last Sunday of the year, Gottlob! Nun geht das jahr zu Ende BWV 28, and Bach’s Magnificat. St Giles’ Cathedral Choir, directed by Michael Harris, with the St Giles’ Camerata, leader Angus Ramsay, are joined by talented young soloists.
STREET PARTY HOSTED BY JOHNNIE WALKER, 7:30pm – 1:00am
£30 (10,000 at £20 for Edinburgh residents) (+ £1 booking fee)
Live bands, DJs, street performers, acrobats, choirs and more all combine across multiple stages and on the streets, hosted by Love Island’s Aftersun DJs The Mac Twins. At midnight, Meute will be providing the soundtrack to the fireworks display from Edinburgh Castle.
MUSIC STAGE LINE UPS
Waverly Stage: Vistas; Gerry Cinnamon & Snap!
Castle Street Stage: Trendy Wendy; Judge Jules & The Mac Twins
South St David Street Stage: Miracle Glass Company; Meute and Elephant Sessions
Street Activation Artists include: Compagnie Transe Express, Compagnie Des Quidams, All Or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre, An Act Above, Diva and Districts Pipes and Drums, Got Soul! Choir and PyroCeltica.
SILENT DISCO AT THE STREET PARTY, 7:30pm – 1:00am
£5 (+ 50p booking fee) in advance or £10 (cash only) on the door
New for this year, visit the Silent Disco arena in the Street Party and have a silent adventure of your own.
HOGMANAY HQ, 7.30pm – 1:00am
£200 (+ £5 booking fee) Hog HQ /
£220 (+ £5 booking fee) Hog HQ + Street Party
Swanky stuff in the comfort and splendour of The Hub on Castlehill. Fizz, dinner and music combined with a prime spot to view the midnight fireworks.
CEILIDH UNDER THE CASTLE 8:30pm (doors at 7:30pm)
£140 /£55.00 (+ £5 booking fee)
Dance in the New Year with top ceilidh bands – The Jimmy Shandrix Experience, Hugh MacDairmid’s Haircut and Ceilidhdonia.
CONCERT IN THE GARDENS, 9:00pm (doors at 8:00pm)
£160 / £70 / £60 (+ £5 booking fee)
This year Franz Ferdinand headlines Edinburgh’s Hogmanay with Metronomy and Free Love supporting. Ticket includes wristband for access to the Street Party.
1 JANUARY
LOONY DOOK, 12:30pm, registration from 10:30am
£10 (+ £2 booking fee)
In the shadow of the Forth Bridges, the dippers in fancy dress, scantily clad or even fully clothed from the night before will brave the chill to raise money for charities while shaking off their Hogmanay hangover.
FIRST FOOTERS FAMILY CEILIDH, 12:30pm (doors open 12:00pm)
Free but ticketed
The first ceilidh of 2019! A family-friendly affair that’s free to attend (with a ticket booked in advance) in the McEwan Hall.
Capercaillie and Special Guests, 4:30pm (doors open 4pm)
£35 / £30 / £25 (+ £3 booking fee)
New collaboration between Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, sees Capercaillie bring a traditional Scottish knees-up to McEwan Hall. Capercaillie is inviting guest musicians to join them to bring the sounds of the European family of nations together in an afternoon of shared cultural celebration.
Carlos Nunez and Special Guests, 8pm (doors open 7:30pm)
£35 / £30 / £25 (+ £3 booking fee)
New collaboration between Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, sees Galician folk star Carlos Nunez join special guests from the cream of the Scottish music scene for a very special evening of musical exchange.
MESSAGE FROM THE SKIES (dusk to 10.00pm)
Unticketed, no fixed capacity.
Message from the Skies returns to Edinburgh’s Hogmanay from Tuesday 1 to Friday 25 January with a celebration of Scotland’s literature and asks six Scottish writers to each write a love letter to Europe marking Scotland’s shared cultural, historic and social connections with this family of nations. The letters will be projected onto iconic buildings and landmarks around Edinburgh animated by a range of different composers and projection artists.
ENDS
