This year there will be more lights than ever before, more free events and just the biggest and brightest Christmas festival that the UK has ever seen! That is what Underbelly promise the capital, and yes they have great ideas to prove that this will be delivered.
On the High Street there will be over 60,000 lights stretched along the Royal Mile from the Tron Kirk to the City Chambers, and there will be two light shows per day all set to music.
Susan Boyle will be called upon to switch on the Christmas lights this year, ensuring that there is real star quality on hand! The ceremony takes place on George Street where Light Night takes place and around 1300 local performers are due to take to the variety of stages there with an expected audience of over 20,000.
There will be ice rinks in St Andrew Square, the Big Wheel and the Star Flyer along with an even bigger Santa Land and the double decker carousel.
The Winter Windows programme is a carry over from last year and is supported by Scottish Gas and national charity Shelter. This will involve 25 primary schools in the area.
The Paradiso Spiegeltent will again be sited in St Andrew Square with a wide and varied offering of circus, comedy and cabaret which will include Frisky and Mannish who almost had us all singing Christmas carols in September.
All residents within the EH postcode area will receive a 20% discount on all shows rides and events. Last year almost 100,000 people took advantage of the discount.
But the festive season gets underway on St Andrew’s Day 30 November. when there will be free performances by the wonderful Dean Owens and the Blazin Fiddles who entertained with some great tunes as the press gathered this morning for the launch.
Edinburgh’s Christmas runs from 20 November 2015 to 4 January 2016.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
