Party Starters: Hogmanay 2024 Highlights

In Scotland we get an extra bank holiday on 2 January because we just love to party at Hogmanay. For a lot of people in Edinburgh, the biggest night out of the year starts with Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party. Taking place along Princes Street, with a huge fireworks display over Edinburgh Castle at midnight, you likely won’t find a more iconic way to see in the bells. After Pulp and Jarvis Cocker did the honours last year, legendary Scottish band Texas, fronted by charismatic frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri, are back for their third run headlining the epic Concert In the Gardens. Of course, if you’d rather be in the warm, might we suggest checking out the New Year Revels Maximum Ceilidh just along the road at Assembly Rooms. 

But we're jumping the gun a bit. The official celebrations in Edinburgh start a little earlier with the aforementioned Torchlight Procession on the 29th, and two major Night Afore events on the 30th with Edinburgh-formed rock band Idlewild playing the Assembly Rooms, and travelling disco Hot Dub Time Machine taking over Princes Street Gardens.

On the afternoon of the 31st, Stockbridge independent record shop VoxBox are hosting the VoxBox Hogmanay Jamboree, a BYOB, free instore party with live music from Man of Moon’s Chris Bainbridge, Adam Stafford, Jewel Scheme, Bell Lungs and Meursault. Sneaky Pete’s are hosting a huge Hogmanay Extravaganza at street food spot The Pitt in Granton with live music, a ceilidh, DJs and more. Back in town, with the 5am licence in full flow, big parties like FLY NYE 2025, featuring Luuk van Dijk and Theo Kottis at The Caves, and Samedia Shebeen’s Hogmanay Tropical Soundclash with DJ Rizwan and West African rhythms from Edinburgh-based Samba Sene & Diwan, are good places to start, but keep your eyes peeled for parties at spots like Sneaky Pete’s, The Bongo Club, The Liquid Room, Cabaret Voltaire, The Mash House and more. The Old Town is where it’s at in Edinburgh.

In Glasgow, the big one to get in the diary is the Ashton Lane Hogmanay Street Party which welcomes 3000 people to the lane for a night of live music, DJs, food stalls and more. Meanwhile, Saint Luke’s are throwing a retro night of 60s music and beyond to help you see in the new year, EXIT have confirmed that a Hogmanay party will take place at their gaff, while SWG3 will host PRTY's NRG NYE Special featuring 999999999, Cadzow, Dken and more across their Galvanizers and TV Studio spaces. For alcohol-free clubbing, look no further than Good Clean Fun’s NYE Warehouse Party at Strange Field featuring David Barbarossa, Queer History of Dance Music and more. Nearer the time, be sure to check in with clubbing hotspots like Sub Club, Stereo, and La Cheetah, while in Dundee head for the Hogmanay Hootenanny at Duck Slattery's, and keep your eyes peeled on venues like Church and Clarks On Lindsay Street.

With that extra bank holiday, Hogmanay celebrations lean with full force into the 1st. In Edinburgh, official celebrations continue with First Footin’, a bunch of free shows featuring the likes of Karine Polwart at St Giles Cathedral and artists like Dead Pony, Zoe Graham and Spyres at other venues across the city. There's a New Year’s Day Party at Leith Arches featuring sets from Glasgow DJ and producer Hayley Zalassi, with support from SWATT TEAM and DISCO TITS, and Vitamin C takes to Portobello Town Hall with live music from The Vaselines, Sacred Paws and a DJ set from Django Django. In Glasgow, head for the EXIT x Healthy New Year's Day party at EXIT, or join legendary party starters Optimo (Espacio) for their massive genre-agnostic New Year’s Day party at The Berkeley Suite, with special guests TBA.