Capercaillie will headline this year’s Hogmanay street party in the Highland capital.
The band, which has been recording Gaelic music since the 1980s, will perform at the Red Hot Highland Fling event at the city’s Northern Meeting Park.
They will be joined by other Gaelic bands Breabach and Skerryvore, former winners of the Scottish Trad Music Live Band of of the Year, at the country’s biggest free Hogmanay concert.
The celebrations are part of this year’s Inverness Winter Festival programme of events, sponsored by the Inverness Common Good Fund.
Event organiser Gerry Reynolds said: “We are absolutely delighted that Capercaillie can make it for the Hogmanay celebrations. Their enthusiasm to come up here is fantastic. They really want to come. They are so popular and people really love them and now that the word is out we are really expecting a crowd reaction, and for people who have never seen them perform I think they are in for a real treat.”
Band member Charlie McKerron said: “We are really looking forward to seeing the crowd jigging and reeling along to our set for ourselves because we have heard so much about the great party you have up there.”
New plans have also been announced for a Christmas parade at this year’s Christmas lights switch on event in the city, due to the ongoing building work at the usual venue of Inverness Town House.
A crowd will assemble at Crown Primary School on November 22 and walks down Stephens Brae steps and parade along the High Street and Church Street, before attending children’s Christmas carol concert in the Old High Church.
This year the hope is to switch on the lights in sequence as the parade moves through the city centre streets.
This year’s Halloween show at Ness Islands will feature scenes from the cinema and television adaptations of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The event will combine video projections from video artist John McGeogh and the performing skills of Eden Court Creative to bring the Headless Horseman to life.
Also part of the winter programme is the Inverness Business Improvement District street theatre festival which runs from October 15-17, featuring an array of entertaining acts from escapology to shopping trolley dance routines by local favourites Granny Tourismo.
Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael said: “As well as being enjoyed by local residents, our Winter Festival helps draw numerous additional visitors to our city and continues to give our economy and our city’s profile a significant boost.”