Porty People and Places

WELL DONE PORTOBELLO !

In today's Scotsman leader article it was good to read about the praise being heaped on Porty! (See below). Today is a wonderfully still and bright second day of 2014! My blip shows Inchkeith in the distance, the old pier posts at low tide, a statutory seagull and, if you look very closely a Boeing 767-300 on the Heathrow Shuttle route - a large plane coming in to collect all those global revellers who have come to Edinburgh to see in the New Year.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is in danger of confusing scale with quality. As the number of events in the capital at New Year has exploded, so too have the prices. The high cost of rides and participation events in Princes Street Gardens has rightly attracted a lot of public criticism. New Year is, after all, a family event and one that falls just after Christmas. We also need to remember that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay customers, local and visitor alike, are not immune to the economic crisis. It is little wonder that people are seeking out places to watch the fireworks for free rather than fork out £20 a head for the privilege. For instance, in the past few years Portobello has spontaneously hosted its own (free) New Year beach party – complete with bonfires and barbecues – to view the ring of firework displays that now surround the Firth of Forth. Well done Portobello.

The full article is pasted below :

SINCE its inception 20 years ago, Edinburgh’s official Hogmanay celebration has mushroomed into a global visitor attraction for the capital city.

What was once a spontaneous yet rather modest gathering at the Tron Kirk has been transformed into the world’s New Year party of choice, attracting tens of thousands of people from England and abroad, and earning Scotland £30 million annually in the process. However, while respecting this achievement, there are worrying signs that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay events are becoming too commercialised and too expensive, robbing the occasion of some its magic and communal spirit.

This year, 10,000 tickets for the Princes Street party – the heart and soul of the celebrations – went unsold. This came after the individual ticket price rocketed by £5, to £20 a head. The organisers contend that this is still very cheap to enjoy the justly famous fireworks display over Edinburgh Castle. But the customers are voting with their feet and – to use the old phrase – the customer is always right. The 10,000 revellers who boycotted Princes Street this year did not go to bed early – they went somewhere else. This New Year was mild and conditions were perfect for watching the fireworks. The clock ticking the seconds to 2014 heralded one of the most portentous years Scotland has ever celebrated. What kept folk away from Princes Street? Answer: the tickets were over-priced. That is a warning Edinburgh Council and the Hogmanay organisers must heed.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is in danger of confusing scale with quality. As the number of events in the capital at New Year has exploded, so too have the prices. The high cost of rides and participation events in Princes Street Gardens has rightly attracted a lot of public criticism. New Year is, after all, a family event and one that falls just after Christmas. We also need to remember that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay customers, local and visitor alike, are not immune to the economic crisis. It is little wonder that people are seeking out places to watch the fireworks for free rather than fork out £20 a head for the privilege. For instance, in the past few years Portobello has spontaneously hosted its own (free) New Year beach party – complete with bonfires and barbecues – to view the ring of firework displays that now surround the Firth of Forth. Well done Portobello.

Edinburgh Council should commission a thorough review of the 2013 Hogmanay celebrations, with a view to assessing commercial content and future pricing structure. The issue is not that the official New Year events are of poor quality. No-one can deny that they provide a profile for Edinburgh of truly global dimensions. But Edinburgh’s Hogmanay must be price-sensitive if it is to prosper. Above all, it must retain the spontaneity and community spirit from which it was created two decades ago.
The Scotsman 2nd January, 2014.