One element of Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival is often a piece of street theatre designed to capture the audience's imagination, provide a spectacle and some encourage some re-imagining of the city as a cultural, creative space. Some of Edinburgh's most iconic thoroughfares have been used in the past, including the Royal Mile and George Street. Last night, 01/01/2013, an expectant crowd gathered in and around Buccleuch Place, in the university area of the Old Town near George Square. The air was still and dry, though cold, for a production from Plasticien Volants of France – a piece called Big Bang. There was plenty of humour in the show, the soundtrack went through different genres and we had occasional pieces of commentary to provide a little narrative and context. The biggest delights from the audience were when the flying 'objects' transformed themselves in mid air – the blobs in the first photo (body parts?) turned themselves inside out and became fish. Sometimes the French performers brought the balloons down to almost head level, and there were plenty of times when they engaged with each other to good effect.
This post is mainly for the photos that follow. They were all taken with an iPhone 5 and you can see from some that I was playing with the panorama feature, with mixed results! They are presented in chronological order and I've tried to tidy them up a bit. I think the phone did well in the low light conditions, handling the colours and contrast ok although failing to get particularly sharp focus at times.
Fortunately there's greater focus in the work that goes into putting on such events. During the three days of Hogmanay the Torchlight Procession, Street Party, concerts, events and New Year's Day activities set Edinburgh apart in what it's trying to do by way of entertainment, shared experiences and destination promotion. Edinburgh's a great place, made all the better for such high points through the year.
These images are also up on my Flickr page and you've welcome to use them should you wish, with attribution please: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsrjarman/sets/72157632409335571/