Hogmanay party eclipsed on the world stage

THE official website for Edinburgh's Hogmanay makes a bold claim: "The world's best New Year celebrations". But are they?

This year the capital's Hogmanay avoided the major embarrassment of being cancelled due to inclement weather – something that has happened more than once in the near past. The 100,000 revellers around Princes Street were rewarded with a spectacular fireworks display and a number of modestly famous rock bands – though Leon, of X Factor fame, proved a no-show. Early predictions that the event would fail to attract the crowds, or that there would be a significant drop in visitors from the UK and abroad, happily were proved wrong.

Yet there is a distinct feeling that this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay was only a relative success because expectations had been so reduced. TV pictures of the fireworks looked just as marvellous, but in the global stakes they are in danger of being eclipsed by the pyrotechnic efforts of London, Sydney and Hong Kong.

In the numbers game, Sydney's New Year celebrations attract a million people, and there are double that in Rio. And while the elements proved sympathetic in Edinburgh this time around, nothing significant has been done by the authorities to provide the city with state-of-the-art weatherproof venues for Hogmanay.

Above all, as Scotland grows understandably more concerned about its culture of excess drinking, there is the nagging feeling that Hogmanay needs to consist of more than having 100,000, mostly young, folk crowded into Princes Street to do little more than stand and consume alcohol.

Meanwhile, older Scots are rapidly changing their approach to the traditional Hogmanay celebrations. One study suggests that only 15 per cent of Scots first-foot after midnight, while a miserly 6 per cent attend a Hogmanay party. Instead, more Scots families than ever go abroad for the Christmas and New Year break rather than stand in the crush at Princes Street.

This is not to dismiss the efforts that have been put into the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations in the past decade, or to undervalue the international brand that has been created. But if Edinburgh genuinely believes it holds "the world's best New Year celebrations" – and is not just resorting to typical and embarrassing Scottish hyperbole – then it cannot rest on its laurels.

The Capital's Hogmanay needs fresh, dynamic thinking. It needs a vision that encompasses all generations, Scots as well as visitors; and which provides more than an alcohol-fuelled evening punctuated by a few minutes of fireworks. In short, Edinburgh's Hogmanay needs to up its game, in both quantity and quality.

This need is underlined by the fact that Edinburgh still lacks a sponsor for the next Hogmanay, while the city council is increasingly cash-strapped – which may explain public complaints regarding the price of many of the 2007 events. A new vision may be the best way to attract new support.