Organisation: Unique Events / Edinburgh City Council

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Analysis and commentary by Echo Research.

That adverse weather disrupted the New Year events in several major British cities was disappointing and unfortunate. That it led to the complete cancellation of Edinburgh's Hogmanay bash was lamented as " the night that never was" (Guardian, 2/1/04), a " washout" (Express, 3/1/04), a " fiasco" (Herald, 2/1/04) and a " damp squib" (Independent, 2/1/04).

It was a harsh assessment of a disrupted winter street celebration in a city that shares its latitude with Moscow. But Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations should have been the crowning glory on a year in which the MTV Music awards provided a further boost to a city already reknown for its global tourist appeal. Indeed having an estimated 100,000 disappointed party-goers only highlighted Edinburgh's success in building "a recognised brand association with Hogmanay" (Professor Luiz Moutinho, Express, 2/1/04).

Organisers and the City Council provided rapid damage control with a chorus of officials emphasising that public safety had been paramount. This was the key message, followed by others: 8,000 concert ticket holders reimbursed, other successful events in the four-day celebrations and Edinburgh's global image was untarnished. For the critics: events should either have been cancelled earlier or not at all, foreign visitors were disenchanted and a future contingency plan for 100,000 party-goers should be set in place.