Basement Jaxx to headline Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival with Ross Bandstand show

Electronica stars Basement Jaxx will be headlining Edinburgh's rebooted Hogmanay celebrations, organisers have confirmed.

Basement Jaxx stars Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe will be headlining Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations this year. Picture: Jean-Luc Brouard

The Grammy and Brit Award winners will be performing their best-known hits beneath Edinburgh Castle when the city’s world-famous celebrations return next month.

They will also be creating a special soundtrack for the city’s midnight fireworks display above the castle.

Final tickets for the gardens concert – which will have a reduced capacity of 3500 this year under plans to ensure the festivities are as Covid-safe as possible – will be going on sale today.

Around 30,000 revellers are expected to flock to Edinburgh city centre for the return of the city's Hogmanay festival. Picture: David Cheskin

The set of the group, who were formed in 1992, will also beamed onto big screens on Princes Street, where around tens of thousands of revellers are expected to gather to herald the arrival of 2022.

It emerged last month that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay festival was being revived, with a torchlight procession, street party, open air concert and fireworks concert all returning.

A series of indoor concerts in the historic Greyfriars Kirk, featuring singer-songwriters Dougie MacLean and Eddi Reader, and trad stars Breabach, have already been confirmed.

Message From The Skies, the project which has seen the work of writers, musicians and artists transform historic buildings, will also return and run from New Year’s Day until January 25.

The Ross Bandstand will be playing host to Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations for the first time in two years. Picture: Roberto Ricciuti

Underbelly, organisers of the festival, which is being backed with £1.1 million in public funding to return, have cut crowd capacities for the main events to make the festival as Covid-safe as possible.

An official announcement about the gig in West Princes Street Gardens – which will also feature BBC Radio 1 DJ Arielle Free – said: “Party goers can prepare themselves for more bangers than the midnight fireworks, making it the best place to welcome the new year.”

Basement Jaxx founders Felix Burton and Simon Ratcliffe said: “Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is an iconic event known to artists around the world.

“The crowds in Edinburgh are always full of atmosphere and we know it will be a special night heading into 2022."

Underbelly directors Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood said: “Basement Jaxx are world class DJs and we’re bringing them to Edinburgh for the biggest night of the year.

“Nothing brings people together like live music and, after a year like no other, we can’t wait to see them on stage in Edinburgh, helping us to see 2021 out in style.”

Cammy Day, depute leader of the city council, said: “Edinburgh is THE place to be to celebrate Hogmanay and it’s great to have the return of live events including music from Basement Jaxx to herald 2022.

"The past year has been very challenging right across the globe and for us, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is such a fantastic way to close 2021 and bring a shared sense of renewed hope and optimism for the year ahead.”

Vaccine passports will be needed by anyone aged 18 and over to secure entry to the main street party and to take part in the torchlight parade on 30 December.

The three-hour “Party at the Bells” will have a capacity of just 30,000, compared to 60,000 in recent years, with the east end of Princes Street, Waverley Bridge and Rose Street all dropped from the ticketed arena.

To help spread the crowds out, the main arena will be kept clear of bars and stalls this year.