Fireworks Concert 2009

I have lived in Edinburgh for 8 years but there are a few things I haven't seen or been to. Now there is one less. Well, I have watched the Fireworks Concert before from Calton Hill, from my window, from the courtyard and from the Mound. Princes Street Gardens and its surroundings are closed and you need a ticket to get in.



You also need to be early. We arrived around 8pm and found a nice spot where we could lay out our water resistant and somewhat insulating rug. We opened a bottle of chilled rose and nibbled on sandwiches and cookies like many people around us as the sky went from royal blue to black.

So this year I watched the Fireworks in the Gardens. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Edinburgh's own) was playing Handel in the Bandstand. I have never listened to his Fireworks music (or any other of his pieces in fairness) accompanied by fireworks. Luckily the music was loud enough throughout and the Chorus sang the Messiah triumphantly.



Edinburgh does fireworks at Hogmanay too, but the weather is unwelcoming most years. It's not only damp but also cold and there likely to be a strong easterly which spoils the summers and embitters the winters. Other years the wind is from the West-South West normally as a result of a massive depression which builds up over the Atlantic. It's not cold, but it brings rain and it's gale force. If I must choose between the two occasions I'd prefer the Concert over Hogmanay.

Most years I'm not in Edinburgh during August and early September. I love the fireworks display on the 20th of August in Budapest (of all?). I missed it this year. The setting is as majestic as Edinburgh's but the river Danube makes it just a little bit more special. People don't sit down for a picnic, though they should, really. Then again, there are no gentle slopes covered in soft lawn.