Stirling Hogmanay party back on

The celebrations will take place at Stirling Castle

Plans to stage Hogmanay celebrations at Stirling Castle are back on despite being described by the city council as "too expensive" earlier this year.

Stirling councillors have voted to back the New Year's event, set to be headlined by Deacon Blue.

The band were due to perform at the castle in 2006 but bad weather caused the cancellation of the celebrations.

Organisers said up to 7,000 revellers are expected to attend the event, now in its eighth year.

Scottish Events has been hired to promote the show, which is expected to cost the local authority about �30,000 compared with �100,000 in previous years.

In February, councillors agreed to call a halt because of the high costs associated with the celebration, should bad weather cause it to be cancelled.

'Mature crowd'

However, members have now decided that the event is viable if a commercial sponsor can be found to meet some of the cost.

Since it began in 1999/2000, the show has been cancelled at the last minute twice.

Stirling's Provost Fergus Wood said: "I am delighted that Hogmanay seems not to be lost after all.

"We must also not forget that this event attracts a large number of visitors to Stirling at this time of year and so I am delighted that we have the possibility of re-instating this event for all concerned."

Organiser Michael Dale said the city was punching above its weight when it came to celebrating the New Year.

He added: "Stirling is a small city so it says a lot that the council have managed to stage this event for the last eight years.

"We target our show at a more mature crowd and I think it's important that people have Stirling as an alternative to the bigger events in Glasgow and Edinburgh."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version