Hogmanay Street Party

Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Never. Again.
I honestly don’t get the appeal… though, I’m also not a drunk 19 year old with a pack of my besties, falling over myself at 8pm because I drank an entire bottle of peach schnapps to myself. In short: I think I might be too old for this.
It’s crowded. It’s disorganized. The queues are DREADFUL… we waited nearly 40 minutes for mulled wine and another 30 for the loo. People have had way too much to drink — there are youngsters vomiting, fighting and falling over every which way you look. The one thing I will say in their defense, they are very cheerful about it… even when they run full force into you, they are exceptionally pleasant.
We didn’t even see the stages, as you could barely move on the street. The fireworks, as always, were beautiful and impressive, but you know what? They would be beautiful and impressive OUTSIDE the gates as well… and seeing as it took nearly an hour to move one block once they were done due to overcrowding at the exits, the view wasn’t worth the ticket price.
All this griping aside, we weren’t sullen Hogmanay goers in any sense… in fact, we had quite the giggle as we weaved through crowds and made fun of our own fuddy duddy tendencies. It’s a check mark in the «must do» column, but for this gal, it isn’t going to be a repeatable offense.

Probably one of the best experiences for NYE that I’ve ever experienced. Our tour guide secured wristbands for our group. We are allowed to bring our own alcohol as long as it is not in glass. So we raided a supermarket and got plastic bottles, cans and the like. We hung out on Princes Street by a statue all night with a perfect view of the castle. It was busy and I heard there were about 80,000 people in attendance. There was crowd control and plenty of porta-​potties available. There are street food vendors up and down the street. You can buy more alcohol if you choose. As long as you have a wristband, you’re golden. They stop letting people in after 11 pm.
There are live bands at different stages throughout the area along with a live DJ on the speakers. There is a carnival area set up with ferris wheel and rides. They had fireworks going off every hour, on the hour, starting at 8 or 9 pm. It was so cool. My new friends and I stood around chatting, eating and drinking until midnight. The midnight fireworks were shot off from Edinburgh Castle and they were spectacular. There are free night buses to bus you back to your hotel after midnight. We made a mad scramble to the nearest bus station and went back. One of my tour-​mates got lost, fell asleep on the bus and didn’t make it home until 4 am. She said it was still worth it though. If you ever get to go to Edinburgh for New Years, Hogmanay Street Party is the place to be.

Summary based on 1 night event:
–*not* suitable for kids without a lot of supervision. Certainly not in the «people crush» areas
–£5 drinks, so consider bringing your own in a plastic, not glass, bottle
–ok food available at ok prices
–decent music
–consider hanging out around the crowd edges to avoid getting crushed. Today’s (Jan 1, 2015) news reports 35 dead in a similar event in Shanghai.
–restaurants and hotel space available, surprisingly, and not challenging
–*but* don’t miss it if possible

My first time abroad and this was the event I chose. As a previous reviewer wrote, sure there were plenty of ques, but the wait wasn’t that long.
Don’t go if you don’t like crowds and getting really friendly with strangers. In an environment like this with so many people all vying for the best spot to see the fireworks, expect to be snuggled up with 80 000+ of your favorite strangers. :)
I stayed in a hotel right on Princes Street and was fortunate enough to have tickets supplied to me through the hotel. I can’t imagine why you’d need to go outside the party zone after 11pm. (There is no re-​entry after 11pm — but there is up until then with a ticket/​wrist band.)
Amazing fireworks. Several stages with bands playing alone the side streets. Quite a few food and beer trucks scattered along the street. I really enjoyed this event this year and would definitely go back again, hype or not.

This is my 300^th review — the day is 30/​12/​2013 — I think it is no more appropriate than to write down my experience of the Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party.
Twice I have been here now and it is always a very, very busy affair.
Yes it is outside.
They close off City Centre and only paying guests can enter. Once in you stay in, because if you leave you cannot get back in again.
You have to have a ticket to get in, they are very strict with the do not bring alcohol /​bottles and will search your bag and there are metal detectors paddles.
There will be stands that sell beer, there will be a queue.
There will food truck that sells burgers, chips, hot dogs and what have yous, there will be a queue. There are portaloos, yes, yes, there WILL be a queue.
Every year there are around 80.000 to 100.000 people (oh sorry ‘revellers’), you certainly will not be alone. Possibly you’ll loose your mates at some point, but you certainly will not be alone.
The fact is you will have one of the best views of the fireworks and you can see live broadcast on big screens of the bands playing in the ‘Party in the Park’ — of which you are not part of, but you can say you were close by.
I personally think the hype is just that. Yes, Though I agree you must have done it at least once in your life. It is one of those bucket list thingies. But don’t dwell on the ‘fantastic times’ to be had — really, it could be raining (which is most certainly a given as you are in Scotland after all.)
This year we are not going. We decided that the privilege of paying to have a good view of the fireworks, getting soaked and catching a cold whilst queueing is not worth it. We stay in a nice bar instead on comfy sofa and a bottle of champers.
Happy Hogmanay — wherever you are celebrating it!