31 December, 2015: New Year celebrations began in Samoa, spreading slowly from east to west across the globe to Auckland, SydNYE, Bangkok, Moscow, Paris ....and then the UK.
In Edinburgh, the Home of Hogmanay, 75,000 party goers, including visitors from around 80 countries, (Australia to Thailand), gathered in the city centre for another fabulous Hogmanay Street Party.
The Concert in the Gardens and live music performances on seven stages around town entertained the crowds all evening. The weather for an outdoor winter Festival was perfect, with just a frosty nip in the air, it remained dry with clear skies.
Before midnight, a special message was displayed on giant screens from the British astronaut Tim Peake. "Welcome on board the International Space Station. I would like to wish everybody on our beautiful planet earth a very fun New Year’s Eve and happy, healthy 2016. Happy New Year."
After a dramatic explosion of soaring rockets, a cascading waterfall of glistening, glittering fiery light illuminated the night sky above Edinburgh Castle Rock. With extraordinary synchronised timing, a burst of fireworks then blasted from Calton Hill to create two similtaneous firework displays co-ordinated with choreographic grace.
With crashing crescendos, the city centre skyline was bathed in a series of blue, pink, purple, orange, silver and gold shooting stars, thunderbolts and streaks of lightening.
It took the Titanium company and Unique Events four days to set up the technical equipment, four miles of cables and igniter wiring for the event. There were 2000 split-second cues setting off 17 sequences for a total of 10,000 firework shots.
On the Royal Mile around Parliament Square, an estimated 4,000 people joined in a foot-tapping Ceilidh. A mass performance of the longest Strip the Willow has apparently broken the Guinness World Record for the Largest Scottish Country Dance. (The final number of dancers will be formally verified in a few days).
Pete Irvine, Director, Unique Events said: "Biffy Clyro rocked the Concert in the Gardens, and revellers at the Street Party enjoyed a superb line-up on four stages – and we broke the Guinness World Record at the Old Town Ceilidh – ‘Edinburgh at Hogmanay: the only way…”
The 23rd Edinburgh's Hogmanay seems to have been bigger, brighter and bolder than ever before with music, dancing, magnificent fireworks and a magical international party atmosphere to welcome in 2016.
More on Edinburgh's Hogmanay