Free tickets now available for Virgin Money Street of Light!

Choirs and music announced for the Virgin Money Street of Light

Visit www.virginmoneystreetoflight.com to reserve your FREE tickets.

This year there is something brand new at Edinburgh’s Christmas! This is a major free event which around 250,000 are expected to enjoy. One of the ideas behind bringing the event to the High Street is to bring Christmas to the Old Town and help traders there.

Edinburgh’s Christmas already drives enormous footfall to Princes Street and St Andrew Square, creating significant economic benefit for Edinburgh (£118 million in 2014/15), and now the Royal Mile and the Old Town are set to see numbers swell thanks to The Virgin Money Street of Light.

This stunning new addition to Edinburgh’s Christmas launches on St Andrew’s Day, Monday 30 November, and runs until Christmas Eve, with a specially designed architectural installation of 60,000+ lights stretching along the Royal Mile, from City Chambers to the Tron Kirk.

Audiences will enter this stunning canopy of light, rising up to 19 metres high and listen to specially commissioned recordings from choirs from across Edinburgh – all synchronised to the lights.

• The music will come from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the Edinburgh Gay Men’s Chorus, the Edinburgh Police Choir and the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union.
• The Edinburgh Festival Chorus will sing extracts from Stella Natalis and Joy To The World (Karl Jenkins) accompanied by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Bell.
• The Edinburgh Gay Men’s Chorus will sing Gaudete (Traditional), The Flood (Take That), Suddenly I See (KT Tunstall), Jolene (Dolly Parton), I Wanna Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) and Deck The Halls (Traditional).
• The Edinburgh Police Choir will sing One Day Like This (Elbow), Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen), Get Lucky (Daft Punk/Pharrell Williams) and Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen).
• The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union will sing extracts from The Messiah (Handel) accompanied by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Bawtree.
• The event runs for 25 days from 30 November to 24 December 2015. There are two shows a day, Monday – Saturday at 6.30pm and 8.15pm, Sunday at 5.30pm and 7.30pm each lasting approximately 20 minutes. The schedule of choirs and performances is shown below.
• Tickets are free of charge, and 5,000 tickets will be issued for each show, giving a total capacity over the event of 250,000 people.
• Virgin Money Street of Light is made possible with the support of Virgin Money and is part of Edinburgh’s St Andrew’s Day celebrations with support from Scotland’s Winter Festivals. The Virgin Money Street of Light is supported by the Royal Mile Business Association

Charlie Wood director of Underbelly said: ““We are delighted to be extending Edinburgh’s Christmas this year into the Old Town with an installation that has been specially designed for this historic site, with music sung by some of Edinburgh’s finest choirs and which offers something truly unique, not just to Edinburgh but to the whole of Scotland and the rest of the UK.

“Tickets are FREE and demand will be high, so please pre-book to avoid disappointment. I would also like to thank Virgin Money and Scotland’s Winter Festivals for their incredible support.”

Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, said: “The Virgin Money Street of Light is a hugely exciting addition to Edinburgh’s Christmas programme which will showcase our beautiful capital city from the City Chambers to the Tron Kirk. More than 870,000 unique visitors visited Edinburgh’s Christmas festival during 2014, and I’d encourage people of all ages to get involved in the celebrations this year.

“The Virgin Money Street of Light is part of the Scottish Government’s Winter Festivals programme which has been provided with a record £390,000 of funding to support 22 key cultural events in 14 local authority areas across the country. Events will run across Scotland from St Andrew’s Day, through Christmas and Hogmanay, to Burns Night to promote and showcase Scotland as a modern and creative nation with a rich heritage. The programme will provide an opportunity to celebrate the best in Scottish music, arts, food and drink.”

Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion, Councillor Richard Lewis, said: “Edinburgh’s Old Town is a spectacular place to visit at any time of year but with the addition of the Virgin Money Street of Light, it will be the city’s ‘must see’ destination this winter. It is important that as the world’s festival city, Edinburgh continues to offer a mix of innovative events and attractions and this is a great example of how technology is being used to provide a free to visit spectacle for families, locals and visitors. The Royal Mile is a beautiful place for visitors at any time of year but this Christmas, with the choirs and 60,000 lights, it is going to look and sound magical.”

Andrew Nicholson, Head of Sponsorship Marketing at Virgin Money, said: “We think the Virgin Money Street of Light will add a fantastic new visual feature to Edinburgh’s Christmas. It will be free of charge following on in the tradition of our support for the Fringe Street Events. We expect over a quarter of a million people will enjoy the show, which opens on St Andrew’s Day and runs until Christmas Eve. We have a proud track record of bringing brilliant light and music shows to the the city through our support of the annual Fireworks Concert to close the Edinburgh International Festival and we hope the new Virgin Money Street of Light will prove to be an equally popular event during the festive period.”

Underbelly has worked closely with the Royal Mile Business Association since the association first approached them asking that they create an event for the Royal Mile area. This unique and site specific architectural installation has been designed in such a way that the pavements will remain clear at all times allowing the free flow of pedestrians up and down this area.

Andrew Elmer – Chairman, Royal Mile Business Association said: “The Royal Mile Business Association are very proud and excited to be involved with Underbelly in bringing Edinburgh’s Christmas to the Royal Mile. The contribution and efforts of our Members have all helped to support Underbelly in showcasing one of the most famous and iconic streets in Scotland with an incredible free light show that will be enjoyed by everyone. We are delighted to be associated with such a major project and it’s been great to see local businesses take the opportunity to be part of such a unique and spectacular event.”

With an estimated 250,000 people expected to enjoy this magical experience over 25 days, they will be able, before and after each show to enjoy all that the businesses on the Royal Mile and Old Town have to offer.

Mr Surinder Gold, Founding Director of Gold Brothers said: “Through our participation in the Royal Mile Business Association (RMBA), we have been involved in discussions regarding a Christmas programme for the Royal Mile since early 2014.

“We were all keen to see the Old Town included in the wonderful and highly successful ‘Edinburgh’s Christmas’, building on the amazing offer the Royal Mile already gives our city’s visitors from across the world. We congratulate the Royal Mile Business Association for their great efforts and we applaud the producers Underbelly for bringing the Street of Light to Edinburgh and very much thank Virgin Money for their continued and expanded involvement in activities on the Royal Mile. We believe the Street of Light initiative will be an outstanding success for Edinburgh and we hope to see it grow. It has our full support for the good of the whole community, our city at large and all the visitors who come here.”

John McCormack, GM of Bella Italia Northbridge said: “It is brilliant to be part of something so unique and fitting, not just to Edinburgh but to the historic Old Town. The event gives Christmas time visitors to Edinburgh more varied choice of attractions and a sprinkle of magic that nowhere else in the UK can offer. We at Bella look forward to you spending the festive period with us.”

Siobhan Leith from Heritage Portfolio said: “As an Edinburgh based catering and event design company we are delighted to support the Virgin Money Street of Light. The Royal Mile is the perfect location to host this spectacular event as it will showcase Edinburgh’s dramatic history and also Scotland’s expertise in creating unforgettable experiences for visitors and locals. Heritage Portfolio is proud to work with the grand café ‘Colonnades’ at the Signet Library which is located at the entrance to the Street of Light. We have worked with our head chefs to create special menus for guests and families and to enjoy pre and post the light show.”

Judith Grieve, from the Old Town Chambers said: “What an absolutely fantastic installation for Edinburgh and at a great time of year. We know our guests are going to love it!”

Demand for the Virgin Money Street of Light is expected to be high. Reserve a ticket to ensure entry at virginmoneystreetoflight.com