BILLY Bragg, The Charlatans, KT Tunstall and Biffy Clyro will headline Edinburgh’s world famous Hogmanay celebration.
The huge street party will also feature a series of new events to be held on the first of January, dubbed One Day.
Fife singer/songwriter Tunstall will be the leading lady of the One Day celebrations in a concert which is to showcase Scotland’s finest singers, songwriters, poets and writers.
There will also be a number of smaller events that will incorporate the newly named Resolution Square at the Mound in the space between the National Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy.
Peter Irvine the Director of the Festival said: “It’s a challenge every year but we do make it different, it is absolutely different.
“We always have a torchlight procession and we always have a huge Street Party, obviously the bands and the DJs are different.
He added: “Of course the first of January most of Britain is really quiet, in cities and towns there’s nothing going on.
“Edinburgh it is really full-on because we know there are huge numbers of people here from all over the world and they want to do something.”
The entire Hogmanay programme stretches across four days and will start one day later than in previous years after research has shown that many visitors had missed out on the torchlight procession which usually takes place on December 29.
In addition to the One Day events there will be the traditional favourites including the Loony Dook, the One O’Clock Run and of course the Street Party and Concert in the Gardens which will be headlined by Biffy Clyro and feature The Charlatans as well as special guest Billy Bragg.
The concerts and events on Sunday 1 January have been supported by the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund.
Minister for Culture, Fiona Hyslop MSP said: “The Scottish Government is providing £190,000 from the Scottish Expo Fund to help a new development in the festival which is to have a big showcase of events on the first on January.
“There’s going to be fantastic celebrations on the first on January as well as what we’ve become used to, some of the best showcasing of creativity and talent and performances on Hogmanay.”
She added: “We know that tourists enjoy coming to Edinburgh because of our landscape, because of our culture, because of our festivals and all the concerts that are going on as part of Hogmanay and now the first of January.
“But one of the special things Scotland can offer the world is the warmest welcome you will get anywhere.”
Ticket sales for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay have exceeded previous years, with the Enclosure for the Concert in the Gardens selling out in two days.
It is expected that the KT Tunstall concert will sell out in record time.
REPORT: Clare Carswell
