
Crowds were once again dazzled by the north-east’s most popular Hogmanay celebration.
Thousands of people flocked to Stonehaven to see the world-famous Fireballs Festival.
People were lining the streets as early as 10pm to watch the dazzling parade and reached full capacity by 11.15pm.
The event saw 47 fireball swingers begin their performance at midnight and dazzle the crowd with their display.
As with 2017, there was no Open Air in the Square performance, but organisers are optimistic there will be for this year’s festivities.
The parade saw the performers swinging the fireballs above and around their heads before throwing them into the water in the town’s harbour at the conclusion of the parade.
Organisers were delighted to see the high turnout and said the popularity of the fireballs continues to grow with visitors.
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter
Jim Stephen, vice-chairman of Stonehaven Fireballs Association, said: “It was absolutely fantastic.
“It was such a busy night and it was a great turnout from everyone.
“Full capacity was reached as early as 11.15pm which was really great to see so many people eager to watch the show.
“There were lots of foreign visitors, in particular 25 fireball swingers from Andorra.
“We went down in the summer to visit them and we invited them to come up to Scotland for the fireballs.”
Stonehaven Fireballs Association travelled to the tiny principality between France and Spain to see the Falles festival.
The event is similar to the fireballs event and involves people swinging burning objects to create a stunning visual effect.
Mr Stephen added: “We had our usual visitors from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand – who we’re always great to hear from.”
This year’s sponsor was once again Stewart Milne Homes, who signed up to support the event for the third year in a row.
Mr Stephen said: “We are delighted to have Stewart Milne Homes sponsoring us once more.
“If it was not for them then the event would not have been possible.”
Happy New Year and well done to everyone who took part last night!Please feel free to tag!!
Posted by GFP Scotland on Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Help support quality local journalism … become a digital subscriber to the Evening Express
For as little as £5.99 a month you can access all of our content, including Premium articles.
Subscribe