Wow, it's been awhile! Sorry about that guys :s. K, I'm going to try and get caught up, slowly but surely!
So, going aaaaalllllll the way back to pre-New Year's Eve, to what seems like ages ago, Brian and I participated in the Edinburgh Hogmanay torchlight procession, which is the kick off to Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogmanay). This year, the organizers sold 6,500 torches (giant wax candles), the proceeds of which went entirely to local charities, and I think someone counted upwards of 20,000 people participating in the march. It was a pretty cool way to get a party started!
First, we had to pick up our torches, and NOT break them whilst sword fighting :).
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| Woo!! Giant wax candle swords! |
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| Super woo!!! |
Then all of us torch people were corralled into the spot on the Royal Mile behind St. Giles Cathedral (around Adam Smith), where we were to wait for officials to come around and light our giant candles. However, as anyone who has attempted lighting all the candles on a birthday cake with one small flame knows, this is an exceedingly frustrating and slow process. So, like any fire-loving individuals would do, once the torches ahead were lit, those people would turn around and light the torches of those behind and so on. Why the "officials" thought a group of 6,500 people would wait for approval to get a light, is beyond me. So anyway, the fire eventually made its way to us, and looked really cool in doing so.
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| Doesn't Adam Smith look spooky in the firelight? |
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| Uniting for the spread of flame. I apologize to whomever I accidentally dumped melted wax on during this process... |
Once everyone was all lit up, we were ready to roll! The march started off with drums and pipes at the front, and music blared out of well-placed speakers along the route. We walked in a group up the Royal Mile, down across the Mound and by the National Gallery to Princes Street, and then up Princes Street to the top of Calton Hill. As we walked along, the group kept getting larger and larger as onlookers and other revellers joined in toward Calton Hill.
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| Mobbing it past the National Gallery on our way to Princes Street. |
As we wound our way up to the top of Calton Hill, the crowd got thicker and thicker, and there were thousands of people together with their torches. As part of the ceremony there was a fantastic fireworks show set to music and a giant wooden sculpture of people dancing set on fire, as well as a nifty light show and general joyous reverie.
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| Who doesn't like a good fireworks show???? |
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| Or a giant (40-50-foot tall) bonfire composed of flaming, dancing people?? |
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| This guy had a good time. |
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| Bring on 2012!! |
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| The Year of Creative Scotland, 2012. |
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| National Monument looking even more unreal. |
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| Closing out a really fun evening. |
Lots of barrel/oil drum-style garbage cans were strategically placed throughout the route and the park to collect dead or unwanted torches. Of course, these became giant, semi-controlled bonfires themselves, which was pretty neat. It's not too often you get to see all the garbage cans beside bus stops raging with fire. When my torch got to be about 5 inches tall, a little boy came over and asked me if he could have it. When I gave it to him, his eyes just glazed over and he couldn't speak anymore. His mom tried to get him out of his trance long enough to thank me to no avail. It was awesome. Brian gave his torch to an Asian tourist that seemingly spoke very little English, but was equally as exited as the little boy to get to take pictures with her own torch. Such a great atmosphere.
Despite there being thousands of people with firesticks, many with beers in the other hand, there was no sense of alarm or police presence, at all. The police and fire marshals were definitely there, but they were out high-fiving people and having a good time too, and it was so liberating to feel that trusted by both the city and the other revellers. This was an experience that I'm not sure could be had in Canada (legally :) ), and we are so glad we were able to partake. If you get a chance to skip out of Canada for New Years, I highly recommend coming to Edinburgh. Even if just to walk with a bunch of other people up a hill while holding a giant candle. Cuz it's awesome!
M
