Cheapest Hogmanay bash ticket goes up to £10

Published on Sunday 4 October 2009 22:15

THE cheapest tickets for Edinburgh's Hogmanay street party have been hiked up again – for the fourth time in just six years.

Revellers will now have to pay 10 to secure entry to the capital's flagship event – four times the cost when a charge was controversially introduced in 2004.

The latest in a string of shake-ups has been ordered despite the capacity of the street party being reduced by 25 per cent and the number of music stages being reduced. Cut-price 5 tickets have been scrapped this year in a bid to ensure there is no repetition of the event making another 600,000 loss – even though there was a poor take-up of street party passes last year.

The city council underwrites the cost of the street party but this year has handed responsibility for setting ticket prices and balancing the budget to producers Unique Events.

The vast majority of tickets for the street party – which suffered cutbacks this year due to funding problems and to accommodate tramworks in the city centre – cost just 5 two years ago.

But an "early-bird" scheme introduced last year meant that thousands of revellers had to stump up between 10 and 17 if they did not buy their tickets within the first few days of sales.

Organisers have admitted that the myriad ticket packages created in previous years had caused confusion, but still insist the new price represents "fantastic" value for money.

The cost of the main Concert in the Gardens, which will be headlined by 1980s chart-toppers Madness, is being pegged at up to 42.50, although an open-air ceilidh will be scaled back and will cost 30 – 5 less than last year. Tickets for the three events go on sale this Saturday.

The city council, which organises the celebrations, was left with an estimated 10,000 unsold tickets, including most of the more expensive 17 "party packs", which were mainly targeted at hoteliers and last-minute visitors.

The 10 tickets did not officially sell out until 23 December last year – months later than in previous years – but more were released on Hogmanay itself after being returned unsold from within the tourist trade.

Now all of the street party tickets are to be sold at 10-a-head in the hope that the simplified system will boost sales and avoid having thousands of passes left unsold again.

The more expensive membership scheme – created in the run-up to the Millennium celebrations to avoid disappointing tourists – has been shelved.

The original 2.50 "administration" fee, introduced in the wake of the cancellation of the 2003-4 weather-hit street party, was doubled for the 2006-7 party, which was also axed after falling victim to high winds.

The 10 charge was introduced last year with the council blaming the rising costs involved in staging the event.

The city council yesterday declined to comment on why the price of the cheapest tickets had been doubled, insisting the decision had been made by the event producers, Unique Events.

A spokeswoman for the Edinburgh-based firm said: "We have listened to public opinion and to avoid confusion, there is just one simple way to gain access to the street party this year."