Spirit of Amy Winehouse at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay

The event has been under threat because of the high cost, but organisers have added an extra stage for the second year in a row to try to reverse a slump in audiences, which fell to a record low of just 70,000 last year, compared with 180,000 at the turn of the millennium.

Organisers have struck a deal with Citylink to run a string of new bus services to towns and cities outside Edinburgh after the street party has finished.

Jade Richards, the Scottish singer who shot to fame in The X Factor, Fringe comedians Frisky & Mannish and The Cuban Brothers, the Scottish cabaret stars who have performed for Robbie Williams and Elton John, will also be appearing.

Festival director Pete Irvine, of Unique Events, said: “The eyes of the world will be on Edinburgh, the home of Hogmanay, as we launch 2012 – the year of the London Olympics. And we are delighted to have such a fantastic line-up for the street party. It’s the best we’ve ever had.”

It has also been announced that Bombay Bicycle Club will be supporting Primal Scream at the flagship Concert in the Gardens at the Ross Theatre, in West Princes Street Gardens. Although the enclosure in front of the bandstand is now sold out, tickets are still available for the gardens arena.

The council has also been awarded £250,000 in funding from the Scottish Government for a major new outdoor event in the Old Town on New Year’s Day, which will herald the start of Britain’s “Olympic Year”. Tickets for the street party have been pegged at £15 – the same as last year, when the event made an £81,000 loss.

Ronson, who collaborated with the late Amy Winehouse on hits such as Valerie, will be headlining the east end stage in Princes Street, supported by Radio 1 DJs Jaymo and Andy George. Capercaillie and the Peatbog Faeries will headline a new stage at the Scott Monument. Jade Richards, controversially ousted from The X Factor before the live televised finals, will appear at The Mound stage, near the Assembly Hall.

Although Kassidy will be playing the Waverley Bridge stage, its main headliner will not be announced until 10 November, when the full line-up is revealed.

Paul Bush, chief executive of EventScotland, said: “The world-class line-up will ensure that this iconic festival continues to attract media interest from around the world, showcasing Scotland as the perfect stage for world-class events.”

Tickets for the Primal Scream Concert in the Gardens and the Hogmanay street party are available from www.edinburghshogmanay.com, via the hotline 0844 573 8455, or from the Fringe box office in the Royal Mile.

All Fired up

Friendly Fires released their eponymous debut album in 2008, picking up two Brit Award nominations and a Mercury Music Prize nomination on their way to 200,000 album sales.

In May, the St Albans trio of Ed Macfarlane, Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge – who all met at school at the age of 13 – returned with their second album Pala, which made the album top ten and produced hit singles Live Those Days Tonight, Hawaiian Air and Hurting.

Brit winner

Mark Ronson, the English DJ, guitarist and music producer, has a history of making global-selling albums for top artists including Adele, Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse and Christina Aquilera.

His albums include the double-platinum Version in 2007 which reached No 2 in the UK charts, later winning Ronson a Brit Award for best male artist.

The follow-up, Record Collection, which also reached No 2, came out last year.

Folk favourites

CAPERCAILLIE, from Oban, have been credited with being the major force in bringing Celtic music to the world stage since forming in the mid-1980s.

Their were the first Gaelic-language band to have a UK top 40 single, in 1992, and were featured on the soundtrack of the film Rob Roy three years later. Singer Karen Matheson has carved out a successful solo career, and Capercaillie remain one of the best-selling acts on the traditional music scene.

Double act on top of the world

FRISKY & Mannish are the musical comedy double act renowned for their parodies of well-known pop songs.

Formed three years ago by Laura Corcoran and Matthew Floyd Jones, the pair’s big break came at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and they have returned for the past two years to huge acclaim. Their world tours have taken them to Sydney Opera House, the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the New Zealand International Arts Festival.

First the Fringe ... then the world

The Cuban Brothers burst on to Edinburgh’s cabaret and nightclubbing scene in the late 1990s, before having a hit show at the Gilded Balloon during the Fringe.

They went on to tour the world and were booked to appear at festivals like Homelands and Creamfields, as well as for major MTV events. The threesome combine music, dance and comedy in their stage show.

Riding high

Bombay Bicycle Club are a London-based indie and folk band – named after a chain of restaurants – whose third album in three years, A Different Kind of Fix, entered the charts at No 6 in August. The band’s members were still at school when they shot to fame in 2006.