Hardy swimmers will again welcome in the new year by braving the icy waters of the Firth of Forth as the annual Loony Dook returns to South Queensferry.
Hundreds of people join the event each year, which sees dippers raise money for charity by wading into the sea by the Forth Bridges on January 1, dressed in a variety of colourful outfits.
The 2021 event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but organisers have announced its return, with tickets on sale from Friday.
Running since 1987, the Loony Dook is part of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations, with each ticket sold including a donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Kirstin Heggie, owner of the Allium Gift Shop in South Queensferry, said: “The Loony Dook is a fantastic event for South Queensferry as it brings so many visitors to our little town.
“It is lovely to see lots of new faces every year and also great welcoming back the old familiar ones too.”
Moira Cunningham, owner of the Ravenous Beastie guesthouse, said: “Everyone in South Queensferry is so happy about the Loony Dook being back and the buzz it brings to the community every year.
“It is such a joyful and fun occasion and a special way to mark the start of a new year ahead of us.”
Live entertainment company Underbelly is organising the event.
Co-Directors Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam said: “The community of South Queensferry have asked us to help them organise this much-loved tradition on the Firth of Forth.
“There really is no better or refreshing way to start the new year, so grab your costume and come for a dip.”
David Smart from the RNLI said: “Edinburgh’s Hogmanay kindly donates £1 from every ticket bought for the Loony Dook to the RNLI.
“The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Every day of the year, people of all backgrounds get into danger in the water.
“The support of all donations means that the RNLI crews can save lives quickly, safely and effectively – as always, we’re incredibly grateful to everyone for their support.”
Donald Wilson, an Edinburgh city councillor, said he would be taking part and the “highlight in many people’s festive calendars” would be “as safe and enjoyable as possible for everyone”.
Fellow councillor Norman Work said South Queensferry will “look forward to welcoming everyone to our world famous waterfront on New Year’s Day”.
Tickets are on sale from £11.50 and each ticket bought includes a donation to the RNLI, access to the beach, main parade, and band performances and are available from the Edinburgh Hogmanay website.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here