Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival will not be opening with the usual Torchlight Procession through the city centre as in the pre-pandemic era. However, AssemblyFestival who took over the reins for the Hogmanay Festival from previous organiser Underbelly earlier this year, hopes to bring the headline event back in 2023.
After weeks of speculation about whether the event would go ahead, after no details for the event had been announced, AssemblyFestival issued a statement this week saying:
“We have been trying hard to find a way to bring the torchlight procession into Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations this year, however, we are very disappointed to confirm that due to the current economic climate, and the drop in available funding, we are unable to go ahead with this event in 2022."
UniqueAssembly added: “We very much hope to bring back the torchlight procession to the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay programme in 2023.”
It will be four years since the event took place. The Torchlight Procession has been an annual fixture in the winter festival calendar for almost three decades, but the Hogmanay festival was cancelled in 2020 when the pandemic struck. An online programme was created in its place. Last year, the Procession looked like it was going to go ahead, but the Hogmanay festival was cancelled days before it was due to start, after the Scottish government tightened pandemic restrictions.
This year's Hogmanay Festival already will feature a slimmed-down Street Party for up to 30,000 people, with Pet Shop Boys headlining the Concert in the Gardens at the outdoor Ross Theatre on the 31st December.
Instead of the Torchlight Procession, the Hogmanay festival will open on the 30th with the more low-key Night Afore Disco Party, also at the Ross Theatre, under Edinburgh castle.
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