New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in London (Throwbacks)

New Year's Eve, London 2014

We have lived in London for years, and have been to Trafalgar Square for New Year's Eve - albeit the easy way by being booked in to a restaurant on the square - but we have never been to watch the fireworks.


To be quite honest, we'd seen the huge crowds that form so early, and really could never be bothered to stand out in the cold, and possibly rain, for that long.

New Year's Eve, London 2014

However in 2014, they started trying to control the crowds by making the main viewing areas ticketed. This was a bit controversial at the time, but it suited us.

The tickets were only £10, and it meant that we could just arrive a couple of hours before to be in a decent position to see, rather than half the day.

We took along a stash of snacks and alcohol, and we settled in to wait for the fireworks. It was a bit nippy, but dry, and with the help of regular sips of brandy and baileys, we lasted through to midnight and those famous bongs.

New Year's Eve, London 2014

The fireworks were certainly very good and we did enjoy them, but in all honesty, I don't think I would bother again. Whilst I do enjoy watching fireworks, I'm not sure I can be bothered in future to wait that long or put up with the crowds on the way home.

Now I could happily watch them from the comfort of a convenient riverside bar or restaurant or something, but I couldn't bring myself to pay those kind of prices even when we were working, so it seems pretty unlikely that we would do it now.

New Year's Eve, London 2014

New Year's Eve, London 2014

New Year's Eve, London 2014

New Year's Eve, London 2014

New Year's Day Parade, London 2015

Another thing that we had never done, was to go along to the New Year's Day Parade.

Partly for the same reasons as the fireworks - couldn't be bothered to wait that long - and partly because we're not early birds anyway, and we'd usually gone to be so late (or is that early?) the night before, that we had no desire to get up as early as was needed.

New Year's Day Parade, London 2015

But this year, we decided that we really ought to make the effort, so dragged ourselves out of bed just about in time to get there for the start of the parade. We knew that would mean being at the back of the crowds, but we were willing to put up with that.

We found a spot close to where the seating area for the Lord Mayor etc, which was good because the parading groups would stop nearby to do their routine, but of course being on the other side of the street, we mostly saw their backs.

New Year's Day Parade, London 2015

There were various bands, as you would expect, but we hadn't thought so many of the participants would be from the USA. Actually, I suspect that this parade may have been modelling itself on the US style of parade, and I found that quite disappointing really.

I don't understand why we would choose to copy their style and tradition, when we could be doing our own thing. I much preferred when we went to the Lord Mayor's Harvest Festival Parade, with all the Pearly Kings and Queens.

New Year's Day Parade, London 2015

Overall, I can't say I was that impressed. Whether that was because we had been spoilt for parades at the New Orleans' Mardi Gras the previous year, or because we had got up earlier than we'd have liked, I'm not sure, but I can't see us bothering with that again.