By far my favorite part of @edhogmanay is the Torchlight Procession that also marks the official start of three days of Hogmanay festivities in Edinburgh. A flaming river of torchbearers winds its way through the Old Town and up to Calton Hill led by pipers and drummers in kilts + the @uphellyaa Vikings who come from Shetland. Up Helly Aa also refers to any of a number of fire festivals held in Shetland. Wikipedia tells me that "The first yule torch procession took place in 1876. The first torch celebration on Up Helly Aa day took place in 1881." So this is rather a tradition now round these parts and that's fine by me. This is my third time here at Hogmanay and I was still as excited to see the Vikings tonight as I was two years ago on this day. Plus, so excited to share it with @dante8 who also posted quite a nice photo from the procession. For even more, check out the other photos tagged with #blogmanay!