Hogmanay and the Fireballs at Stonehaven

The Scottish celebrate Hogmanay, their New Year's Eve celebration.

Part of their celebration is the swinging of the Fireballs.
We went to Stonehaven to participate in this ritual.

Rumor has it that there were supposed to be 5000-6000 people viewing the festivities.

It was quite exciting to see them swinging these fireballs.

Dave and Sydnie, our expat friends.
They live in Stonehaven and hosted our Hogmanay party.

Stewart and Nicola, members of our ward (church.)They live on High Street and have a great view of the parade from their home.

We were able to record some of the parade. Angus had to hold the camera up above his head to get these shots above the crowd.

The weather held until the bitter end and then the snow started falling.

We hope that each of you had a good New Years Eve. If you weren't able to celebrate bringing in the New Year by participating in a superstitious pagan ritual to drive away evil spirits, try coming to Scotland next year. This crowd really knows how to party.