The magnificent 1992 pipe organ at St Giles'

31 December, 7:30pm to 9pm

Ticket news, updated 29 December:  Tickets are still available. 

A far more serene lead-in to the New Year is offered at St Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile, through its annual Candlelit Concert of classical music. Held early in the evening, before the city-centre revels get underway, the quality programme is perfectly matched by the atmospheric surroundings of the Church of Scotland's High Kirk.

This year, the cathedral's choir will be performing Vaughan William's Fantasia on Christmas Carols, while an array of young soloists tackle Vivaldi's Gloria. But much of the pleasure of the event lies in the building itself, a grand monument to a distinctively Scottish religious history: a statue of John Knox glowers over proceedings from beside the northern door. The cathedral's proud, too, of its stunning organ, which with 4,000 pipes is one of the newest of its size in Europe.

The event attracts a wide range of concert-goers, but the organizers do add the stentorian footnote that it is "not suitable" for babies and young children. And be warned, it gets chilly - best to take your woollies.

Tickets are available online, and from the usual Hogmanay ticket outlets.