The real spirit of Hogmanay: first-footing, football and stovies on the island of Easdale

As their big city counterparts part with big cash to enjoy New Year events, the Argyll islanders enjoy a very special three-day celebration of community

In Scotland this is where the real essence of transition from old to new gets distilled. At midnight tonight on Easdale, a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides, a motley troupe of celebrants will pick its way gingerly over rocks and grass, through pools and over dykes. The three-day celebration to bring in the New Year will have begun.

Easdale has a permanent population of 65 but in the days leading up to Hogmanay and for a day or so afterwards this will have swollen to around 250. No house lies empty; every bed is taken and all sofas are booked months in advance. Not a few outhouses and barns, no matter how inclement the elements, will have turned into havens for a night.

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from The Guardian http://ift.tt/2q1lhQj