Edinburgh Hogmanay: Hourly fireworks in countdown to 2013

Last year Edinburgh saw in the new year with a six-minute firework display

Hourly firework displays will mark the count down to 2013 as part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations.

From 21:00 on 31 December there will be a one-minute display on the hour until midnight where there will be a longer firework sequence.

The Light Night switch on event, which attracted 15,000 people to the city centre last year, will start at 17:15 on the Mound on 29 November.

The Edinburgh 2012 Winter Festival will then continue until 6 January.

The firework company behind the display is Kimbolton who did the Jubilee and Olympics 2012.

Although full details of the Hogmanay programme will be kept under wraps until the public launch of the Christmas and Hogmanay event on 31 October, organisers said this year would see the return of the German Market.

Last year, 63% of the 130,000 people that attended Edinburgh's Hogmanay events were from outwith Scotland, with the majority of visitors staying in the city for an average of two or three nights and generating an estimated £29m.

Robin Worsnop, chairman of Edinburgh Tourism Action Group, said: "We are extremely pleased to see the development of the winter festivals event, both in terms of the level of activities proposed for this year and the extension of the event across the city.

"This exciting and revamped programme will be a tremendous boost to Edinburgh's reputation as a world-class winter location and provide a terrific platform for many organisations to get involved."