2016 Edinburgh Hogmanay Torchlight Procession

USPA NEWS - 2016 Edinburgh Hogmanay Torchlight Procession.
The opening event of Edinburgh´s Hogmanay 2016 is the spectacular Torchlight Procession. A total sell-out each year, last year it welcomed over 40,000 people to this world-renowned family event.

Thousands of torch carriers illuminated Edinburgh in a procession that passed through the city centre, culminating in a spectacular firework display on Calton Hill, led by Shetland´s Vikings and the massed pipes and drums. The three-day Edinburgh´s Hogmanay Festival, produced on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, kicked off with the hugely popular Torchlight Procession. The 40,000 something participants and 8,000 torchbearers in the procession winded their way through the city centre from George IV Bridge to the finale at Calton Hill passing through Waterloo Place where there was additional entertainment. This year access to Calton Hill was exclusively available for torchbearers and their accompanying friends and family.

Did you know? The roots of Hogmanay perhaps reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice among the Norse, as well as incorporating customs from the Gaelic celebration of Samhain. The Vikings celebrated Yule, which later contributed to the Twelve Days of Christmas, or the "Daft Days" as they were sometimes called in Scotland. Christmas was not celebrated as a festival and Hogmanay was the more traditional celebration in Scotland. All money raised by the sale of torches from all those taking part in the procession goes to charity.