Fireworks start to 2018
Villagers in Killin will mark the end of 2017 and welcome in the new year with events over the next three days.
Celebrations get underway tomorrow (Saturday) when Scottish folk band Skipinnish return to the village for a concert in the McLaren Hall.
The band, formed in 1999 and this year named Scottish Traditional Music Live Act of the Year, have played at Killin Music Festival and also staged a concert in the village in the run-up to Hogmanay last year.
Saturday’s concert has been organised by Killin Music Festival Committee, led by Gregor MacKenzie.
Local photographer Ron Allner said:“It promises to be a great concert and the tickets are more or less sold out. The band put on an excellent show last year and enjoyed it so much that they wanted to come back.”
Killin’s entertainment programme continues on Hogmanay when villagers and visitors will gather next to the Falls of Dochart Inn to welcome the New Year with a fireworks display.
And that will be followed on New Year’s Day by a ceilidh in the McLaren Hall, organised by the village’s Masonic Lodge. Any proceeds go towards community projects.
Tickets for the ceilidh are available from lodge members and Sheila’s Sweetshop.
Ron, who helps Charlie Grant organise the Hogmanay display, said the fireworks cost around £4000 and are released over the Falls of Dochart from a specially-erected platform.
“You don’t get the density of fireworks that you would perhaps see in places like Edinburgh on Hogmanay but our display is pretty spectacular – and goes on for 20 minutes,”he told the Observer.
“We have a lot of people come here especially for Hogmanay and all the hotels and bed and breakfast places are full.
“It’s an alternative to the bigger Hogmanay venues but we have good fireworks plus other events which people enjoy.”