It is a long way from this pile of metal fencing to the main event at the weekend.
But preparations have officially begun for Saturday’s Red Hot Highland Fling Hogmanay Show in Inverness’s Northern Meeting Park.
The event, sponsored by the city’s commond good fund, will be hosted once again by top Scots stand-up Craig Hill.
And yesterday, stacks of metal railings and fencing for the event were dropped off at the rear of Eden Court Theatre.
They will be taken to the Northern Meeting Park tomorrow and work will progress.
The Inverness Hogmanay all-star line-up will feature The Elephant Sessions, Scooty and the Skyhooks, and Scottish trad music live band of the year Skerryvore.
Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael said recently: “Since our winter festival was launched at the end of 2008 it has made a significant contribution towards making Inverness a more enjoyable place to live and provided a significant boost to the local economy by attracting visitors from far and wide to our city.
“It is wonderful to see just how much enjoyment each of our events generates and to see how much they are appreciated by everybody.”
The gates will open at 8pm and the show will run from 8.30pm to half past midnight. There will be a pause at midnight for fireworks and singing of Auld Lang Syne.
Drivers are being urged to use city centre car parks on the night.
Only disabled parking – for blue badge holders – will be available at the site on the night.
Spectators are reminded there will be a bar and hot food available at the event. It is not permitted to bring food or drink in.
There will be security searches on the night prior to admission.
The event will mark the culmination of this year’s Inverness winter festival.
It follows the popular Winter Wonderland event a week before Christmas which gave children the chance to meet Santa and his reindeer at the illuminated Whin Park.
