Lights out for Hogmanay party as city pulls event on cost grounds

SCOTLAND'S biggest city has announced that it is ditching its official Hogmanay party this year on grounds of cost.

Glasgow City Council has said that instead of the usual New Year party in George Square, it will instead host a "family day" with music, ceilidh dancing and the Glasgow Bonspiel curling tournament.

The local authority has been criticised for going ahead with the decision without proper public consultation, but Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson said it was "imperative that we get the best bang for every Glasgow buck".

"At the moment we are being asked to justify spending 34 of public money per head on an event which just isn't delivering value and indeed received a fair amount of negative feedback last year," he said. "This is on top of the 19 ticket price we are asking the public to pay."

Mr Matheson said that it contrasted with the 1.50-per-head cost of staging the council's free fireworks display in November, or the Christmas lights switch-on, which costs 6 per head.

Last year's sparsely-attended event had seen a change in its format, abandoning big-name bands in preference for a more party-orientated atmosphere.

But according to a council spokeswoman, feedback had shown the change was unpopular and, with the high cost of running the event, the "hard decision" was taken to abandon the Hogmanay party.

Mr Matheson said the council would be putting its weight behind the city's festive period programme instead. He said: "Instead of using public money to stage a midnight event for 4,500 people, the council will be putting its weight behind the existing Glasgow Loves Christmas events across the festive period."

Glasgow is not the first Scottish city to abandon its big Hogmanay celebrations in recent years. Two years ago, Aberdeen opted to focus on smaller events, while Stirling has scaled back its midnight celebrations.

But Glasgow City Council SNP group leader Allison Hunter accused the authority of axing the event without having a proper plan for its replacement.

"I am very disappointed to see that this decision is being taken without any consultation with councillors or the public. Given the importance of Hogmanay to the local economy, we should really have been reviewing how we can get better value for money at this event, rather than just cancelling it with only a vague notion of how to replace it."

However, the decision was backed by business and tourism experts.The chief executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Scott Taylor, said: "The event attracts 4,500, but really only a quarter of those are from the outside area, and if they were all staying the hotels then the maximum value of the sales would be 135,000, so I think if the council is saving 153,000, the event wasn't really washing its face in terms of generating tourism income. The event competed against nightclubs and pubs, so the decision to pull the square event is a welcome boost for businesses in the city because the revellers will be spending their party in the pubs and clubs."

Glasgow Caledonian University tourism expert Prof John Lennon said the move made sense in the economic climate.

He said: "For a while it's been clear that Edinburgh is not only Hogmanay capital of Scotland, but of the world. I think it's a realistic strategy (for Glasgow] to focus on other areas."