If you want a bit more formal information, check out this Scotsman article on what happened to Hogmanay: Street party blown away .

The Hogmanay That Wasn't

I went down to my friend's flat about 4 pm to get some food and wait for another friend. We had some chicken and rice for dinner. I then took a look at my friend's computer. There were a bunch of updates for her operating system so I worked on that while we waited for another friend to arrive. He just got off the plane from being in the US and it was his birthday.

He arrived a little after 7 pm and we had some more food. Scotch Broth. Amazingly simple yet very filling without any taste at all. You have to add a bit of pepper or something to give it more than a slightly barely taste. In anycase, we discussed what we were going to do that night. His supervisor was going to be playing the pipes after midnight but he could not remember where it was going to be. So he looked online and I went back up to my place since it was getting really cold out and the wind was blowing and it was raining. I had looked at the weather report and it said something like 40 degrees and rain. I had not dressed for what was going on outside.

After I returned, better prepared than before. We went out to have a look around. There were thousands of people out wandering the streets. We went down to where the traditional dance was supposed to be and then we headed up to the Assembly Rooms to see if that is where my friend's supervisor was supposed to be. The line to get in was very very long and we decided to come back in an hour once everyone had cleared out to make some discreet inquiries.

We made our way back to an entrance gate. On the way, we saw some girls running around in bikinis. It was horribly cold outside. It was good to see that they had warm coats to get into when they were done running around. We ignored them for the most part as we made our way back to the entrance gate.

My friend who lives here in Mylnes court had forgotten her mittens and scarf so we made our way back up the mound to get them. We then decided to have a look on the royal mile to see what was happening up there. Not much was so we went down North Bridge back to Prince's Street. We entered the restricted area again then went back to where the traditional Scottish dance stage. Then I heard some announcement over the loudspeaker. I could not quite understand it but they repeated it several times. The festivities were cancelled. So we decided to make our way down three streets where my friend would make his way home. We needed up in a crowd of about 20,000 fighting our way up the mound back to Mylnes court.

Each time they announced the cancellation, the boos got louder and louder. The advised us to leave the area. It did not look like many people were complying. The police were not doing anything except directing people to the exits. They knew exactly what they had on their hands: 100,000 mostly drunken angry people. They were not about the make them any worse.

So there you have it. Hogmanay was a bust. I will always remember this just like the cancellation of the millennium celebrations in Seattle. The Hogmanay that wasn't.

posted by Chris  #12:01 PM | 0 comments |