Volunteers sought as Wick’s New Year street party is set to return
Wick’s New Year street party is set to return this festive season, allowing revellers to welcome 2025 at a community celebration in the town centre.
Hogmanay and People’s Party Yearly (HAPPY), part of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council, has formed a new committee and additional volunteers are being sought to act as stewards.
Event organiser Allan Farquhar gave an update at the July meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council (RBWCC), which he chairs. He said the street party “should be a goer” after the one scheduled for Hogmanay 2023 had to be cancelled amid concerns over costs.
Explaining that a new committee had been formed, Mr Farquhar said: “We’ve already spoken to Eclipse, the local band, so they are prepared to play at this year’s event and they’ve given us a price for it as well.
“We will need volunteers for the night. They are few and far between but we need a certain amount of volunteers – the numbers are one for every 150 people.
“We will be doing fundraising.”
The previous street party, on Hogmanay 2022, attracted a crowd of around 600 as the event returned for the first time since the start of the pandemic. On that occasion local group Reviver played on the back of a truck and there were pipe tunes from Morven and Glenn Miller.
In his role as community market organiser, Mr Farquhar explained that 18 stalls had been confirmed so far for the market on the opening day of Wick Gala Week – Saturday, July 27. He said there would be live music during the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Claire Mackenzie, chairperson of the Wick Christmas Lights Committee, another RBWCC subgroup, reported that the town’s Christmas fun day will be on Saturday, November 30.