31 December, Edinburgh, 9pm-1am

Get the latest on Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party and this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay events - official and unofficial.

The Street Party - an exuberant carnival of music, dancing and street theatre - is the most famous aspect of Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival. The street party, which gets going when the stages and screens go live at 10pm, has been scaled back in recent years from 180,000/200,000 of the millennium party to around 100,000 and takes place within a smaller cordoned-off area (see maps). This is accessible by free street party ticket (see box office).

In previous years we've seen strange ghost-like white men on stilts inflating into huge balloons, a man who rolls around on a large concrete ball until his helper picks him up with a trolley and moves him on, black insect-like stilt-walkers and characters in macks with telescopic necks.

Fireworks above Edinburgh Castle at midnight

Party 2006-2007 Programme

On Sunday 31 December 100,000 revellers from Scotland and around the globe will party in Edinburgh's city centre into the New Year underneath the dramatic watch of Edinburgh castle, perched high on its volcanic rock.

There are 6 stages this year, with 9 bars. The Indie/Rock line-up on The Waverley Stage will be The Fratellis, with The Dykeenies and The Complete Stone Roses performing live from 10pm. The Scott Monument Stage dedicated to Folk/Hoolie will set toes tapping with Watergaw, Lau and Burach. For Cheesy Pop into the wee small hours, The Great Calverto will headline at The Mound Stage supported by The Pop Tartz and rap with local accent from FBC (Fountainbridge Collective). The Concert in the Gardens will be a music and fireworks spectacular with Pet Shop Boys performing Hogmanay Hits Extravaganza and the highlights of a year of their platinum album from Paolo Nutini. The Ceilidh in the Gardens promises traditional Scottish Dancin’ with a twist. Local favourites Sandy Brechin’s Selection Box and Fraser MacNaughton Ceilidh Band will have people birlin through the bells while on Mound Square, Capercaillie celebrate twenty years of international prominence and Salsa Celtica round off their hugely successful European tour with a Hogmanay Homecoming Show. The Moonshiners’ own brand of Clydeside Bluegrass complete the line-up.

Revellers hug a polis man at midnight

At midnight, the Seven Hills Fireworks, will provide a breath-taking spectacle to welcome in 2007. The display will use around eight tonnes of fireworks to light up the skies for miles around.

Free Buses on the Night Free night buses are usually operated by Lothian Buses (tel 0131 555 6363, download PDF of Holiday timetables) and First Edinburgh Buses (tel 08708-727271, download PDF of Holiday timetables) from various departure points around the City Centre to return revellers safely home. You should check the buses in advance. For Edinburgh bus information