Welcome to The Hoog Hogmanay 2008-9!

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The Hoog: Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the Hoog?
• When is it?
• What is Hogmanay?
• Why is Hogmanay so special in Scotland?
• The "Hoog" thing again - what is it?
• Big Love Day, but why Scandinavia, I thought you said Scotland?
• Where is the Hoog?
• When are the tickets available?
• What time do I show up at the Hoog?
• What time does the entertainment and dancing start?
• What will I do at the Hoog?
• What is a Ceilidh?
• So it's country dancing?
• Will I meet the love of my life and do you guarantee this?
• What do I wear?
• Should I take the car?
• What else happens at the Hoog?
• What happens if my tummy gets empty?
• I have Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party tickets, can I come to the Hoog as well?
• I Don't have Street Party tickets - but I want to see the fireworks
• How do I get my tickets once I've paid for them?
• What do I get for my money?
• Is this good value?
• Can I book lots of tickets at once?
• Are there any concessions?
• Can children come?
• Should I drink too much alcohol, become anti-social and then hate myself for it in the morning?
• I might lose my ticket - can I get a new one?
• Why should I choose The Hoog over other indoor events?

What is the Hoog?

The Hoog is the name given to the best indoor Hogmanay party in Scotland.

When is it?

Why Hogmanay of course! To be precise it's December 31st 2008.

What is Hogmanay?

Have you been living in a cave? - Hogmanay is Scotland's New Years Eve. New Year is more special in Scotland than any other country in the world.

Why is Hogmanay so special in Scotland?

Go and ask your forefathers. Everyone has Scottish ancestors somewhere. While you're at it, find out what tartan you should wear.

Sorry, the "Hoog" thing again - what is it?

The word Hoog comes from "Hoog min dag" - It means "Big Love Day" in some Scandinavian language or other - it's probably where Hogmanay came from originally.

I love the idea of a Big Love Day, but why Scandinavia, I thought you said Scotland?

It's back to your forefathers again for that one - trust us, this is a relation celebration, and we're all related!

Where is the Hoog?

Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms at 54 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2LR. They are 55 degrees 57'11.40"N and 3 degrees 11'55.50" W.
Click here for a map to the Assembly Rooms

When are the tickets available?

The launch of the full Edinburgh's Hogmanay programme is on the 4th November 2008. Tickets will be on sale then. Best place to buy them is www.edinburghshogmanay.org

What time do I show up at the Hoog?

7:00pm for opening doors and 2am for closing doors - we print this on your ticket in case you forget.

What time does the entertainment and dancing start?

9pm and then on 'till the end.

What will I do at the Hoog?

The Hoog is a proper Scottish party including a full on Ceilidh.

A what?

Ceilidh! - So you have been living in a cave! It's pronounced kay-lee. Go here for the full description, but basically you get to hear the very best contemporary and traditional Scottish bands playing the most infectious and exciting reels, jigs and perhaps even the odd fling. What you tend to find is that the music is so uplifting that you often start to get some sort of dancing urge - we make an allowance for this!

So it's country dancing?

Well, nothing to do with Country & Western but yes ceilidh is a form of country dancing - It should be noted though that Ceilidh is considered mainstream "de rigeur" in Scotland rather than twee or parochial. The dances themselves are easy and quick to learn and do. The mood of a ceilidh (even when it isn't Hogmanay) becomes very inclusive and family like. It's the Big Love Day - we don't want to sound all hippy and so on - but you just start to love everyone. It's unavoidable.

Will I meet the love of my life?

Yes - (unless you bring them with you in the first place of course).

You guarantee this?

Well, okay maybe not fully guaranteed - but the point is that, because of the ensemble nature of the dancing and sheer fun of it all, this is a social gathering which is traditionally very rich in the real spirit of friendship. You just can't beat it!

What do I wear?

We think you will look great in full Scottish attire - no matter where you come from. If you want to flavour your current party frock, we suggest some tartan additions with perhaps a sprig of heather.

If you come in jeans and trainers... well you're just as welcome, but it would be lovely if you embraced at least some of the Scottish flavour besides, remember the "love of your life" thing above? You should really make the effort! FYI most people come proper dressed up.

If you are male and wearing a kilt at the Hoog we recommend that you leave your Sgian Dubh at home. The nice security people at the door insist that they are checked in at the cloakroom - and this can be a little bit fussy.

Please also wrap up warm and bring wet weather stuff for your journey. We have full cloakroom facilities which will be efficiently manned..... with, well.... efficient men.

And while we are talking about the cloakroom - please bear in mind that come 02:00, we do tend to get a bit of a rush on, and there can be a fair bit of a rammy, stushie and even a stramash when 1600 Hoogsters all want their coats, dancing shoes and aunty Gertie's flowery umbrellas at once. If stampedes aren't your thing, you may wish to leave 10 mins early! And please remember the Hogmanay season good of cheer and patience when collecting from the cloakroom. The facilities are free to use and it's a big operation with lots of nice people working very hard to make it smooth and slick - however, by the very nature of the logistics of what it actually entails, there can quite often be a wee delay or a hiccup on the way oot.

Should I take the car?

We don't really advise it. Some parts of the city will be hoaching and many of the roads will be closed off. Go here for more travel information.

What else happens at the Hoog?

There will be a DJ or two doing some stuff at different times and at different parts of the venue. There are nice chill out areas too.

What happens if my tummy gets empty?

We're glad you asked. Despite the outrageous money we have had to pay the staff to work on Hogmanay, we are preparing to have stovies and good quality chips available. We don't want to get any more elaborate than that at the moment. In previous years we had a more extensive menu, but we actually found that all people really want is some nice chips! We know it sounds rather Bohemian, but it was the experience from what we threw away in the past that drove us to this decision. You will be too busy partying to sit down to a three courser!

There will be six fully licensed bars with all kinds of stuff.

I have Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party tickets, can I come to the Hoog as well?

Good question! The first thing you need to know is that your Hoog ticket does not give you any access whatsoever to the Street Party. The Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party is a separate ticketed event. If you want to go you must buy tickets. The Street Party is 2 minutes walk from the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms. The barriers to the Street Party close at 11pm. It then has no re-admission until after midnight. The reason why we are bothering to tell you this is because people who attended the "New Year Revels" in the past (which was also in the Assembly Rooms in previous years) used to go to both events when the Street Party was free. Now, with the Hoog, you can effectively do the same thing - but you would have to buy tickets to the Street Party and the Hoog separately.

The Hoog does have re-admission so you can more or less come and go as you please. One scenario here is for you to arrive at the Hoog until 10 mins before 11 o'clock and then mosey over to the Street Party to see the fireworks if the weather is good. You can stay for an hour and kiss lots of strange drunk people then come back to the Hoog until 2am.

There are some good reasons why you might not want to do this. First of all, apart from the weather etc, you should know that the street party will have 100,000 people at it. There are three live stages and a whole bunch of other stuff at the Street Party - and latecomers will be right at the back!. Meanwhile, at the Hoog, there are also three stages and a bunch of great things going on everywhere too - in our opinion you would have a great time, , stay warm and save a few bob if you just stay at the Hoog. You won't really want to leave It is just our opinion of course!

Of course, as a huge outdoor event (in Scotland!), it is possible that bad weather can cause a last minute cancellation. We don't intend to put you off by saying this - but if you do have Hoog tickets as well as Street Party tickets then you really are in a "cake and eat it" situation. You can do a bit of both, and you will have somewhere to go with indoor toilets, cloakroom facilities and a place to sit down too if you feel like it - not to mention the food, drink and dancing of course.

If you are flamboyant enough to do both events on the night (and we have had a few mails on this topic already)- just remember to time the barriers correctly - just to repeat what we said at the beginning, there is no admission into the Street Party past 11pm. Once the fireworks are over (around 0010hrs) you can exit the Street Party arena very easily and be in the Assembly Rooms in a matter of minutes. However, bear in mind, there will be plenty of other people (around 40,000) with the same idea! Our advice is to get into the Street Party either before 11 or after 12. The Hoog has re-admission all night until 2am.

I Don't have Street Party tickets - but I want to see the fireworks

A few people seem to like doing this. Basically, before the bells, you can quickly exit the Hoog, run down George Street and stand in the junction of Castle street to watch the fireworks over the top of the Castle - then a few minutes later run back in again.

The issues you need to remember about this are:

1. You have to check your coat back out then in again if you want to stay warm - this can be a jiggle but it's okay.
2. You are likely to lose your drink you just bought since you can't take drinks out of the venue - it's a "down in one" at the doorway!
3. You have a limited visibility of the fireworks through the gap in the buildings.

We don't think it's worth seeing fireworks on the basis of these three niggles - but, like we say, a few people seem to like doing it every year - so go ahead if that's your thing.

How do I get my tickets once I've paid for them?

You can pay £4.95 on top of your booking fee and ticket price to have your tickets sent out to you special delivery.

You can also pick up your tickets from the box office at East Princes St Gardens from 27th Nov - 30th Dec free of charge. This box office closes on the 31st December when the street cordons seal off Princes Street and a temporary box office will open in St. Andrews Square for those wishing to pick up Street Party tickets. Therefore, please read this carefully: If you have not collected your Hoog tickets by 22:00 on the 30th from East Princes Street Gardens, then please just come to the Assembly Rooms on the 31st December and collect them from our own box office which opens at 09:00 and remains open throughout the event in case of late-comers.

What do I get for my money?

In a nutshell, the cost of the ticket gets you into the best indoor party in Edinburgh. There you can dance and experience excellent entertainment on three stages and on the two floors of the huge Assembly Rooms. Excellent food and drink are obtainable, but are not included in the ticket price.

Is this good value?

Yes. None of the event organisers live in castles or drive nice cars! This is a quality event that understands the needs of a discerning public. Check out our competition on the night - we won't waste your time with attempts to prove stuff to you here - you'll see.

Can I book lots of tickets at once?

Yes, we love party groups - but we're not so keen on ticket touts. This means that ticket purchasing becomes a little bothersome if you need more than six tickets. Basically, if you are in a very big group, we suggest you buy tickets in batches of six using different friends, with different credit cards registered at different addresses. This way we can cut down on re-sellers. Sure, go and buy them on eBay for twice the price (if you can guarantee they are genuine) if you want to - we are just trying to control this little aspect to the industry. Basically six tickets per person, per booking, per card - we're sure you get what we're trying to say here.

Are there any concessions?

No.

Can children come?

Sorry 18s or over.

Should I drink too much alcohol, become anti-social and then hate myself for it in the morning?

No. You are to drink alcohol using the responsibility and control you have learned over the years. You have to make it through 2008 as a new and better person. Make January the 1st a good way to start.

I might lose my ticket - can I get a new one?

Bad news here I'm afraid. As this is not a seated event you must keep hold of the ticket you bought - we cannot transfer your booking onto another ticket. All specific ticketing information is managed by Edinburgh's Hogmanay, please read the terms and conditions which are written on the back of the ticket. If you lose your ticket, there is nothing for it but to buy a new one.

Why should I choose The Hoog over other indoor events?

We think you will be very happy with our choice of venue at the Assembly Rooms. It's an atmospheric Georgian style building in the heart of the city centre, perfect for celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland.

With great food, great bands and also being the only indoor event which is part of the Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations on 31st December - we think your choice is fairly obvious.

I really can't think of any more questions

Good! But if you do - phone the box office on 44 (0)844 481 2009 (after the 4th November) or the Night Train Hoog Production office +44(0)131 444 1111 and check this site for updates in the lead up to the big day.