Edinburgh’s Hogmanay

Following the successful delivery of an open air public event in Edinburgh to mark the European Summit of 1992, Unique Events was asked to offer a report, which proposed a programme to both satisfy and create the demand for a properly managed event at the end of the year in Edinburgh. Unique recommended a three or four day festival which would allow Edinburgh to take ownership of the Scottish word for New Year Celebrations, ‘Hogmanay’.

This template was actualised in 1993. It was instantly and spectacularly successful and has continued and developed to this day. Subject to EU tender procedures every three to five years, Unique revisited and revised the template and successfully won the contract for the next 23 years (1993 – 2016).

Our Response

Unique Events’ Edinburgh’s Hogmanay programme uniquely combined large-scale music events, both free and ticketed, international street theatre, classical, traditional and contemporary music and sporting activities.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay comprises of a range of indoor and outdoor events from large-scale outdoor concerts (Concert in the Gardens) and world-famous Street Party event, to classical concert in St Giles’ Cathedral, multi-venue culture trail events and free New Year’s Day programme for families.

Along with our partners Assembly Festival, we manage all aspects of the festival including sponsorship and marketing; all production and site services, ticketing and box office; front of house and crowd management.

The continued development and design of the Street Party is key to the growth of the festival and maintaining the global reputation of Edinburgh in New Year celebrations. A return to Edinburgh’s Hogmanay live events in 2022 welcomed over 50,000 visitors to a 3-day events programme,  including a new headline concert series featuring Pet Shop Boys (31st Dec), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (30th Dec) and Tide Lines (1 Jan), plus a return to a free New Year’s Day events programme with new culture trail event First Footin’, with 25 live music acts performing throughout the city centre and the return of ‘Sprogmanay’ our free family events programme.

The Stats

Over 120 bands performed at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay including Texas, Madness, Kasabian featuring a surprise guest appearance from Noel Gallagher, Moby, Primal Scream, Simple Minds, the Pet Shop Boys, Lily Allen, Biffy Clyro and Paolo Nutini.

Over 3 million revellers enjoyed the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party over the last 24 years.

We worked with broadcasters from across the globe; BBC News 24, Sky News, ITN, STV and BBC Scotland’s Hogmanay Show all broadcast live from the Street Party. Live pictures beamed to a potential audience of over a billion people in 200 countries around the world.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is a key part of Scotland’s tourism calendar, and is worth more than £41 million to the local economy with over 150,000 people attending our events over the three day celebrations that we are very proud to help the festival recover and grow through the period of our current contract.