The following news release was issued by Edinburgh's Hogmanay on 1 January 2020:
Tens of Thousands choose to Be Together for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, the most spectacular New Year street party in the world.
- A sold-out crowd of 75,000 gathered in Edinburgh’s city centre for a magical night of celebration.
- Midnight fireworks crowning moment of Mark Ronson’s spectacular live performance which included a special guest appearance from Daniel Merriweather.
- Incredible sets from Marc Almond, Idlewild, The Snuts, Rudimental DJ, Arielle Free and the Mac Twins put music at the heart of the party.
- Nonsense and fantasy collided in large-scale street theatre to entertain audiences throughout the night.
- £42,500 raised to support charities – OneCity Trust, Brain Tumour Charity and RNLI
- Tickets now on sale for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party 20
This year’s sold-out Street Party hosted by Johnnie Walker was spectacular! From the moment the doors opened at 7.30pm, ‘til long after the midnight bells fell silent, bands and DJs, street artists, musicians and dancers from Scotland and across the UK created a party that will live long in the memories of the tens of thousands who gathered to bring in New Year in Edinburgh.
This year’s theme, Be Together, was celebrated by bringing together tens of thousands of friends old and new to share in a warm and welcoming moment of friendship creating a fantastic atmosphere across the Street Party.
Mark Ronson dazzled the partygoers with some of the best tracks of the decade in a full throttle count down to the midnight fireworks. Daniel Merriweather joined him for Stop Me and Shallow. DJ Rudimental played a banging set of their biggest, old skool hits and Mungo’s Hi Fi kicked off the night.
Headlining the Waverley Stage, the charismatic Marc Almond played his greatest hits. Opening the Waverley Stage Keir Gibson The Ninth Wave brought the glam and were proud to be representing Glasgow, and after the bells Porkpie put on a brassy and brilliant show.
Partying to the max at the Johnnie Walker Stage DJ The Great Calverto kicked off the night, followed by a throbbing set by Arielle Free which had the crowd going mad for it. The Mac Twins brought it home after the bells taking the party right through to 1am.
The new High Street Stage at Parliament Square opened with VanIves rocking it including a cover of Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much. Scotland’s finest continued with Idlewild who came out shouting ‘We are from Edinburgh’ to huge roars from the crowd, The Snuts got the crowd jumping with a high energy set and after the bells Shooglenifty lead the whole Street Party in a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
All around the arena spectacular street theatre entertained the audiences throughout the night from the stunning Picto Facto who opened the Street Party to the nimble dancing light puppets of Dundu and Close-Act Theatre’s quirky i-puppets. Gandini Juggling, Avant Garde Dance Company and PyroCeltica filled the podium stage with light and movement.
At the end of the night the lone piper Louise Marshall played out the party goers into a crisp clear night.
Visitors from 87 countries around the world joined the people of Edinburgh to celebrate New Year, including from Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, China, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, USA and Vietnam.
After teaser fireworks on the hour, this year’s midnight moment saw almost 16,000 shots and hundreds of thousands of stars in every known firework colour flood into the clear night sky. Titanium Fireworks had worked with Mark Ronson to create the display set to a medley of some of his greatest hits including Uptown Funk feat. Bruno Mars, Stop Me with Daniel Merriweather, Bang Bang Bang with The Business Intl, Nothing Breaks Like A Heart and Electricity.
Johnnie Walker strode into the New Year with us giving party goers a premix Johnnie Walker and Elderflower highball cocktail to welcome in 2020.
The atmophere across the arena was friendly and upbeat welcoming in a new decade.
The first ever live stream of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay with 16 cameras feeding a live edit from around the arena captured the atmosphere and hosts The Mac Twins interviewed The Ninth Wave and The Snuts among others. Thousands watched it from all over the world joining from the USA, Italy, Canada, West Africa, Sweden, Australia as well as around Scotland and the UK.
Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam, directors of Underbelly who produce Edinburgh’s Hogmanay on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council said:
What a fantastic night! Mark Ronson, who has been the soundtrack to our last decade, brought in the new decade with an absolutely belting set which took us through the bells. The fireworks set to his soundtrack were breathtaking!
Tonight Edinburgh overwhelmingly celebrated a togetherness of Edinburgh people and visitors from 87 different countries, showing to the world the true spirit of Scotland’s and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
We thank the many people who worked together to make tonight the best ever Hogmanay.
Chief Superintendent Kenny MacDonald of Police Scotland, Event Commander for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, said:
With the New Year having now been welcomed in, the large crowds, which had gathered in the city centre for the Street Party, have now began to disperse, as the event comes to a close.
I am delighted to report that there have been no major incidents to report within the arena and no arrests have been made.
In addition to offering my sincerest thanks to the public for ensuring this was, overall, another safe and successful Hogmanay, I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.
Cllr Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said:
I’d like to wish everyone in the Capital an incredible start to the New Year and new decade! Edinburgh’s Hogmanay truly remains the place to be to bring in the bells and this year was no exception.
With one of the best artist line-ups ever, tonight has been a truly fantastic event, with tens of thousands of residents and visitors bringing in the bells and enjoying an outstanding fireworks finale.
Our internationally-acclaimed Hogmanay celebrations featured a Ceilidh under the Castle and family-friendly events for little ones. So whether you joined the magic of the Torchlight Procession which raised much-needed funds for the OneCity Trust, spent your midnight moment at the world-famous street party or, like me, will plunge into the 2020s with an icy Loony Dook in support of the RNLI - I hope you enjoyed being a part of it.
Ewan Andrew, President of Global Supply and Procurement, Diageo said: “
For the second year, Johnnie Walker has been host of the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, raising a glass to the year ahead with 60,000 revellers at one of the world’s biggest and best New Year celebrations. As we go into 2020, a hugely exciting year for Johnnie Walker, we wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Tonight’s Street Party hosted by Johnnie Walker came hot the heels of the iconic Torchlight Procession on the 30th December and ahead of The Loony Dook, the First Footers Ceilidh and Message from the Skies on New Year’s Day.
For those attending the Loony Dook the procession starts at 2.15pm and we expect the dippers to be dooking by 2.30pm in South Queensferry.
1 January also sees Edinburgh’s Hogmanay in association with Celtic Connections present a special New Year’s Day concert with Eddi Reader.