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Boozy New Year party for Brits
31/12/2007 11:29 - (SA)
London - Britain was gearing up for New Year's Eve celebrations on Monday as the government urged revellers not to go wild on booze and newspapers predicted a post-midnight surge in frisky behaviour.
More than 350 000 people were expected to pack the banks of the River Thames in London to watch a mammoth fireworks display, while Edinburgh was to host its traditional giant Hogmanay knees-up.
Other cities across Britain had their own parties planned as authority figures urged self-restraint as revellers let their hair down to welcome in 2008.
In London, following the famous chimes of Big Ben at midnight, a blazing 10-minute fireworks display focusing on the London Eye observation wheel was to fill the dark skies with colour.
Giant screens
Giant screens set up in the city centre were to relay the events.
"London's New Year's Eve fireworks display is world famous and the capital one of the best places in the world to be during the festive season," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said in a statement.
"The fireworks display will kick off 2008 in spectacular style."
In Edinburgh, tickets to the Hogmanay street party - costing £5 or £20 with a "party pack" - have sold out.
"100 000 people from all over the globe join in the celebrations with three stages of live music, featuring world class performers, an enormous ceilidh (party) in the gardens and one of the world's most spectacular fireworks displays from Edinburgh's seven hills," organisers boasted.
Kasabian and Idlewild were headlining the concerts.
Stonehaven, near Aberdeen on the Scottish east coast, was to host its traditional Fireballs ceremony, where around 50 people torch boulder-sized balls made from chicken wire, rags and cardboard and swing them around their heads.
Elsewhere across the country, pubs, clubs, bars, and restaurants were to stay open well into the night to see in the New Year.
One-night stands
Some newspapers predicted a wave of booze-fuelled one-night stands.
The Daily Mail newspaper was concerned about the after effects of a New Year surge in drunken one-night stands.
The Marie Stopes International organisation, which carries out around one in three abortions in Britain, said it undertook about 6 000 abortions last February - the peak month for women who get pregnant over the festive period.
"When alcohol is involved inhibitions come down," spokesperson Steve Kerridge told the Daily Mail.
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