Aberdeen’s Hogmanay party to be scrapped as city faces cash crisis

Aberdeen’s Hogmanay street party has been the highlight of the city’s annual Winter Festival since it began in 2005.

Four years ago, 20,000 people gathered in Castlegate and Union Street to see in New Year and watch performances by Amy Macdonald and Sandi Thom.

Previous headline acts at the Granite City’s Hogmanay Party have included Wet Wet Wet, the Proclaimers and Travis.

Last year, as part of a series of council spending cuts, the city’s celebrations were confined to a fireworks display from the roof of His Majesty’s Theatre, sponsored by a local taxi company and watched by a crowd of only 2,000 revellers.

But councillors are now set to cancel all Hogmanay celebrations in the city centre this year following the decision of Rainbow City Taxis to withdraw sponsorship for the event.

Instead, members of the council’s enterprise, planning and infrastructure committee are being urged to back proposals for developing a “more family-focused event” for Hogmanay in 2013.

Dawn Schultz, the city promotions manager, states in a report to next Tuesday’s meeting of the committee that last year’s Hogmanay fireworks celebrations only went ahead after a sponsor, Rainbow City Taxis, was secured to provide £30,000 per annum for two years.

The city council met the £20,000 shortfall for staging the spectacular display last year.

But Ms Schultz states: “Following the delivery of the event in 2011, the sponsor advised that it would not be continuing with its support in year two due to responsibilities placed on it to secure additional funding to deliver the event in full and also due to the lack of promotional opportunities that the 2012 event realised for the sponsors.

“In recent years, this event has not acted as a driver for people to travel into the city centre. Rather it provides additional entertainment for those who are already in the city centre.

“Inclement weather and accessibility have also taken their toll on the event and numbers attending have decreased significantly, with people staying at the event for shorter periods of time. Similarly, without supplementary activities planned around the event there are fewer opportunities for sponsors to brand the event and achieve the recognition for their support that would be expected for a financial contribution of this size.

“Significant additional expenditure would be required to increase the current offering by including a stage for local entertainment and delivering a programme of activities across a longer period of time, as a means of encouraging people to come into the city specifically to attend an event of this type.

“Taking into consideration the timescale available to organise and deliver the same event again in 2012, and to secure the necessary financial support, this event does not represent best value for the city and does not enhance the events offering in Aberdeen that is already provided by our Winter Festival.”

Last year, Glasgow City Council also ditched its official Hogmanay party on the grounds of cost and instead hosted a “family day” with music, ceilidh dancing and a curling tournament.