Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations are to return this year with tickets on sale from tomorrow, but numbers for the world-famous street party have been drastically reduced to just 30,000.

As coronavirus put an end to large scale celebrations last year, but this year’s event will welcome revellers back to the city centre of the capital to celebrate the end of 2021.

This year’s Hogmanay programme has today been revealed by organisers Underbelly.

The celebrations include Party at the Bells, the Torchlight Procession and a Scottish music programme with Dougie McLean, Eddi Reader and Breabach at Greyfriars Kirk. 

As part of Party at the Bells, there are 7,500 tickets available at a discounted price for EH postcode holders.

The four days of celebration begin on Thursday, December 30 with the Torchlight Procession.

Participants will collect their torches from three locations around the city: Waverley Bridge, West Parliament Square or Bristo Square and will then start the Procession on the Royal Mile between North Bridge and St Mary’s Street. 

The family friendly event will be slightly different to previous years, with the procession spread out between 4pm and 9pm, allowing locals and visitors alike to blaze through the Scottish capital in a fun and safe environment. Tickets with a torch are £15.

Along the procession route, flames and light installations will illuminate the experience. Underbelly are working with local Celtic Fire Theatre company Pyroceltica, who led the procession in 2019 and Double Take Projections. 

At the end of the Procession on Holyrood Park, participants will be asked to light a slow burning candle and then leave. As more and more candles are lit, an image will emerge over the course of the event, which will be filmed and streamed on the Edinburgh Hogmanay website.

The Scottish Music Programme will take place from Wednesday, 29 December until Friday, 31 Decemberat Greyfriars Kirk, with tickets from £25. 

Performances include one of Scotland’s most skilled and imaginative contemporary folk acts, Breabach on 29 December, Scottish singer-songwriter, Dougie Maclean OBE on 30 December and three x BRIT Award winner, Eddi Reader OBE on 31 December.

 The world famous street party will kick off at 10pm, finishing after the bells at 1am on Friday, December 31 for a reduced audience of 30,000. The iconic midnight fireworks display will be back at Edinburgh Castle.

Artists will be announced in coming weeks and will perform on the Ross Bandstand to 3,500 people in the gardens under the Castle, and will be streamed onto a series of screens to the audience on Princes Street.  

Garden Access and Street Access tickets will be on sale from 10am on Tuesday 26 October with 7,500 tickets available at a discounted price for those with an EH postcode. Street Access tickets are £25.50, with the EH discounted price being £17.50.

 For every Party at the Bells ticket sold, 50p will be donated to the Brain Tumour Charity, an organisation Underbelly raises money for year-round.  

Edinburgh’s Message from the Skies project will return from 1 January 2022, and fuses the work of Scottish writers, artists and musicians with full details to be announced in due course.

Working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Government, Underbelly is meticulously planning Edinburgh’s Hogmanay in the context of Covid-19 and is dedicated to creating a safe and fun environment for the 2021 celebrations. Ticketholders for the Torchlight Procession and the Party at the Bells, who are aged 18 and over, will need to have a Covid-19 passport and to show it to enter the events. 

 Underbelly Co-Directors, Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam, said: “The 2021 Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations have been reimagined to offer a safe and a fantastic experience for Edinburgh and beyond - telling the world that “We Are Back Together”. Through the Torchlight Procession, Party at the Bells and the iconic fireworks, this year's Hogmanay event has been designed to deliver a celebration for the people of Edinburgh and our visitors, and to place Scotland at the forefront of the world’s new year events. We can't wait to help bring everyone back together again."

Cllr Cammy Day, Depute Leader of City of Edinburgh Council said: "Edinburgh is the home of Hogmanay and it is fantastic that this year as we mark its 29th year, we see the return of in-person events and that celebrations will return to the streets of the Capital. There is an unmissable Hogmanay programme this year, which will support economic recovery across the wider city area, safely bring people back together and welcome in the new year with a renewed sense of optimism for great times ahead.”

For more information and tickets, please visit https://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/