World’s best party has really Scot it all

Throw in some of the best bands, superstar DJs, entertainers, giant screens, outdoor bars and several tonnes of breathtaking fireworks and you’re sure to start the new year with a bang.

A total of 8500 people are expected to watch Concert In The Gardens headliners Primal Scream perform in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, but there’s plenty more must-see acts worth catching.

Like Kassidy, for example. Described as Scotland’s answer to Kings of Leon, the Glasgow-based band went down a storm during last January’s KT Tunstall-curated Resolution Concert.

And having spent last year at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party, they can’t wait to do it all again.

“There are so many things you can do at New Year, but we’re normally together as a band,” says band member Lewis Andrew. “Last year’s Edinburgh Hogmanay party was amazing fun.

“Any time being on tour is always fun – it’s amazing playing gigs. Everything at the moment is amazing,” he adds.

The Cuban Brothers, pictured above, are another act with a crowd-pleasing reputation.

Describing themselves as “entertainment personified”, they promise to make you “laugh, sing along, cry with joy and shake your booty”.

Axed X Factor singer Jade Richards has said that she now forgives (tis the season after all) judge Kelly Rowland for booting her off the TV talent show, and that she may even be back for another crack at winning the next series.

The 21-year-old, of Buckhaven, Fife, says, “I am so busy already. I have had to give up college because I don’t have time to concentrate on it properly.”

The young singer knows that playing live to tens of thousands of people at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party could be the perfect launch pad for her fledgling career.

“I’m hoping that things happen over the next year that mean I can make it to where I want to be myself,” she says. “But I would never say never to going back to that route.”

Having won the final of Hog The Street after a closely contested “street busking” competition in Princes Street earlier this month, Matt Norris And The Moon are over the moon about their inclusion on the Hogmanay bill.

“We are thrilled to be playing, and a huge thank you to everybody who donated money to Shelter Scotland today to see us through the final,” says Norris.

The young Edinburgh five-piece describe themselves as a “foot-stomping, five-part harmonising quintet, pitting trumpet swells against folksy fiddle runs to create infectious melodies”.

What’s not to like?

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, stages live from 9pm