POP legends, the Pet Shop Boys are to headline Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations when they are staged for the first time in three years.

It marks a major return to Edinburgh's New Year festivities after the famous street party and other events were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe will stage their Dreamworld greatest hits show beneath the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle on December 31 months after a headline performance at Glastonbury.

Previous years have seen Primal Scream, The Proclaimers, Biffy Clyro, Simple Minds, Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall and Blondie all feature at the concert.

The Pet Shop Boys make a return to the hugely prestigious show with their latest tour production, nine years after they played the sold-out event in 2013.

The duo have recently returned home from North America where they played a sold-out co-headline tour with New Order.

The duo said: “2022 has been an incredible year, when we have loved being able to perform again after the restrictions arising from the pandemic. We can’t think of a better way to round off this year than by celebrating the start of 2023 in Edinburgh.”

The iconic synth-pop duo took their Dreamworld hits tour to the Glasgow Hydro in May, when they played a string of their best known songs from West End Girls, It's A Sin and Love Comes Quickly to Go West, Heart and What Have I Done To Deserve This.

For almost 30 years Edinburgh celebrated the New Year at the famous ‘Edinburgh’s Hogmanay’ festival.

The 2022 festival marks three-days of free and ticketed events featuring live music, fireworks, and city lighting, with the flagship Street Party and the showpiece Concert in the Gardens at its heart.

The show with Pet Shop Boys and special guest DJs takes place from 9pm to 12.55am. Tickets go on general sale on Friday 28 October at 10.00am.

Concert in the Gardens tickets are priced at £85 for the enclosure and £70 for Gardens general admission.

Penny Dougherty and William Burdett-Coutts from event producers Unique Assembly, said “As we celebrate the return of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, we are delighted to welcome back one of the greatest pop duos of all time and one of the festival’s most successful headliners – Pet Shop Boys. Who better to help us kick-start Scotland’s premier New Year festival, bringing Hogmanay back Home.”

Pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor has already been announced as part of the line up for Edinburgh Hogmanay.

The Murder on the Dancefloor singers is set to play a pre-Hogmanay "disco party" in Princes Street Gardens - headlined by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Altered Images.

The family event will be held the night before the city's main Hogmanay show on 30 December in the Ross Bandstand.

Running from 19:30 to 22:00, the Night Afore Concert will also feature Forth 1 DJ Boogie.

Tickets for the street party have already been put on sale. They cost £27.50, although 5000 discounted tickets for EH postcode holders will cost £22.50.

In previous years there has been a torchlight procession, usually taking place on the 30th, where participants are given lit torches and make their way down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Park.

Grammy and Oscar award winner Mark Ronson headlined the last Hogmanay in the Gardens concert before Covid.