Hogmanay festival Scot:Lands announces programme

Pop-up event Scot:Lands has announced the lineup for its multi-arts New Year’s Day festival, which will see events curated by some of Scotland’s most innovative artists and arts organisations.

Taking place in nine unusual spaces across Edinburgh’s Old Town, the festival promises to be a “snapshot of contemporary Scottish culture” featuring a collection of dance, music, spoken word, theatre and film. “Our mystery tour of extraordinary venues will be full of surprises,” says Pete Irvine, Creative Director of Scot:Lands. “Curated and performed by innovative and notable artists gathered from near and far across Scotland, each destination of cultural delights created for one afternoon only. The combined effect of alighting on several very different lands will be particular and personal. You can’t plan it, but prepare to start the New Year immersed in an unrepeatable and unique festival experience.”

The Scot:Lands setup is intriguing. There’s an element of chance in the nine “Lands” audiences get a chance to visit, their first destination selected following their online application for tickets. They can then choose their next venue by spinning a giant compass when they’re ready to move on. All nine buildings are located within a short walking distance of one another.

Audiences might choose to visit Sorley:Land, where Neu! Reekie! will be bringing some of Scotland’s brightest talents together to pay a very modern homage to the great Scottish makar Sorley MacLean. New Scots:Land, meanwhile, celebrates the people from other nations who’ve made Scotland their home and helped enrich our culture. We’re promised vibrant, colourful music, dance, theatre and film from artists including Dance Ihayami, Samba Sene & Diwan and Annie George and Young Fathers' Alloysious Massaquoi.

You might instead be drawn to Nether:Land. Here TRACS and Flint & Pitch bring together traditional and contemporary artists to begin the new year with “stories and song, words and wonders”. While at This:Land, you can take a look at Scotland’s celluloid past, with archive film from the national film collections, which will feature "dramatic land and seascape, forgotten streets and inspiring life stories." These will all be accompanied by live music scores including the beatboxing of Jason Singh.

Mountain Thyme:Land celebrates Scotland’s ‘secret bard’, Robert Tannahill, with music and poetry from Eddi Reader, James Grant and the Tannahill Weavers and Tannahill Singers; Wigtown:Land pays tribute to Scotland’s national book town with a lineup of authors, performances by the Bookshop Band and a celebration of Burns and the Galloway SongBook; High:Land will feature Gaelic language, outstanding fiddle playing and the very best of Highland hospitality; and Orcadia:Land features a new work by composer Alasdair Nicolson to mark Orkney’s St Magnus Cathedral's 900 years.

Of course, you might just want to dance away your hangover at Let’s Dance:Land, where a warehouse party will rage with “DJs, old school hip-hop, new disco mashups and pop ups strictly from the ballroom,” plus a performance by dance group PRIME.

Tickets are free and available now from www.edinburghshogmanay.com. Booking in advance is strongly recommended.

Read more about Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival here