Big-hearted, kid-friendly and tinged with just a hint of pyromania, the 29th December Torchlit Procession is a highlight of Edinburgh's Hogmanay. In the city's homage to Shetland's Up Helly Aa, a posse of modern-day Vikings parades a replica longboat through the streets of Edinburgh - then spectacularly sets it alight on top of Calton Hill.

The procession's a huge participation event, as crowd of 20,000 torch-bearers accompanies the boat to its fiery doom. It's hard to see how it can possibly end without the whole of Edinburgh being on fire... but, under the watchful eye of event stewards, the flaming finale is a safe and fun occasion for the whole family.

Getting a torch

The procession and events on Calton Hill are free to all, but to get into the spirit of things, you're going to need a torch. For obvious safety reasons, only officially-sanctioned slow-burn models are allowed - you can pick one up at Parliament Square before the start of the procession.

Torches cost £6 on the night, or £5 if you buy a voucher in advance. Proceeds this year go to Forth One Cash For Kids and Barnardo's Scotland; vouchers are available online.

Taking part

Visitors beware: the starting point for the procession, Parliament Square, is on the Royal Mile and is nowhere near the modern-day Scottish Parliament.

Plan to join the expectant crowd in Parliament Square (by St Giles' Cathedral) from around 6pm, to admire the longboat and for photo-ops with the friendly Shetland Vikings. At 6:30, the first torch is lit, and the excitement's palpable as the flame spreads person-to-person through the crowd. And then, the Viking longboat at its head, the procession sets off along the Mile.

The torch-bearing parade passes down the Mound - combined with the Christmas lights, it's one of the prettiest sights of the year - before turning right onto Princes Street and Waterloo Place. The real action starts, though, after the short climb onto Calton Hill. It's there that the armour-clad Vikings ritually torch their longboat, its flaming mast a brief addition to Edinburgh's iconic skyline.

The boat's not all that goes up in smoke.  There's normally a huge wicker animal too, and it's a safe bet that there'll be a few fireworks to round off proceedings - a pleasing foretaste of the big display at the bells on Hogmanay.

In accordance with our policy on promoting charitable events, FringeGuru verified on 21 November 2008 that Radio Forth's Help A Child Appeal (trading as Forth One Cash For Kids) and Barnardo's Scotland are registered Scottish charities and are up-to-date on filings with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

The wonderful picture of the burning longboat was taken by Lee Kindness.  Our thanks to him for releasing the image under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.