Torchlight Procession

The opening event of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2011/12 is the spectacular Torchlight Procession. Join thousands of torch carriers as they create a river of fire from the historic Royal Mile to the Son et Lumiére and fireworks finale on Calton Hill.

Torchlight Procession, a set on Flickr.

We had no idea what we had stumbled upon heading back to the Royal Mile. Coming up the hill we saw this amazingly lit building, the colors shifted from this gorgeous burgundy to a plain white.

I ended up finding a place on the road right where the Viking group had set up, preparing to lead the procession through town:

The gent with the white beard captured my eye … he had a twinkle to his eye.

I’m not sure after the torches were lit, he was too happy.  That heavy club now had to stay up in the air:

Circling up they broke into song.

And with a blast of fireworks in the sky they marched out, to the glorious sounds of bagpipes and drums. I love to hear the swells of music as they approach and pass:

What a fantastic annual event.  Though I was a tad bit nervous with the number of kids running about with flaming torches… Guess its better than a bottle rocket right?