The Stonehaven Fireballs Association

For the duration of the Fireball Ceremony some of the piers at the harbour will be closed off on the advice of Grampian Police. People comming to the event are advised not to try and gain access to those piers, they will be policed.

Planning to be in Stonehaven for Hogmanay? Looking for somewhere to stay? See The Stonehaven Guide for a list of local accomodation.

Minutes from the public meeting held last month are attached below.

  FIREBALL 2010

The Stonehaven Fireballs Association is hoping for a good clear evening for Hogmanay ‘09/10 as there will be a full moon that night. It should add an extra little piece of magic on what is a very special night. The regular features for the pre-event entertainment to the Fireball Ceremony are planned to happen as usual – the pipe band & the drumming group. Unfortunatly the popular fire poi troupe will not be taking part.           

The Fireball Ceremony for 2009 was an outstanding sucess. The weather was cold, though not freezing, and the wind was light. The crowd was large and enthusiastic. The combination pipe band (Stonehaven & Lathallan School) and the drumming group entertained the spectators from 11.00pm. Brochure and calendar sales/distribution went very well bringing in £2272.00 to help run the whole Hogmanay Festival.

Everything went according to the overall plans. There were no reported problems. The Fireworks went off at exactly the right moment - just after the last Fireball was thrown into the harbour at 00.25. The firework display was up to the standard we have come to expect - stunning!

The thousands of spectators in the harbour area who watched the firework display applauded loudly and long as the last firework died and seemed happy to stand around for quite a while after. However by 1am the whole High Street was swept clean and empty of people, barriers, bottles, plastic glasses, champagne corks, party poppers or cans. Credit must go to the Aberdeenshire Council workforce who come out every year and do so well. 

Below are the names of the 47 swingers that made up the procession in 2009 with the number of times they have taken part before.

 

PLEASE HELP US IF YOU CAN.

We have created an Excel document which gives the names of 161 people who we know have swung a Fireball since 1908. There must be hundreds more people out there who have swung who we don't know of. There is the usual reluctance of the local folk to claim their place in a public area but the history of the Fireballs is very thin and every little piece is important. So please check our history document and if you know anything different or can add to it in any way please get in touch.

Pictures and videos of the 2008 Stonehaven Fireballs  started to appear on the web very soon after the event was over. There are several videos on YouTube, with more being added all the time, and a really nice set of pictures courtesy of Gavin Shaw. If you have any pictures, videos, etc that you'd like to share, please do get in touch.

 

An ideal break in the weather allowed us to have an amazing Fireballs Ceremony for 2008. The rain stoped for the barrier setting out and then again it cleared from 9.30 untill after 1am. The total lack of wind also helped keep the evening feeling fairly mild. The huge turnout of spectators amazed all of us I think. I did not expect to see so many. The cars were parked up as far as the path into Forest Park off Mill 'o Forest Road. The Open Air In The Square organisers had noticed that their numbers were well up early on in the evening.

The lack of wind did have an adverse effect - the Fireballs took longer to burn out. There were more Swingers finishing in the 20-25 past midnight period this year. Last year most were done by 20 past. Quite a number of Swingers I spoke to were complaining of the effects of their exertions!

Thanks to Chairman Alan Venters and his team for another great event.

There were 46 swingers in total. The full list is attached. The press reports of 43 are my fault - poor accounting! On the accounting side, so far we know that the donations from the brochure distribution have raised £1638.00. This total may rise a little but even so it's great amount - nearly twice what we have raised in the past. Our costs have gone up this year though. Thanks to all who helped with the brochures - a fantastic effort.

We have had a good run on our DVDs, Tee & sweat shirts. Order yours NOW before stocks run out!

The Fireball Association had the good fortune to have Gail Anderson and Mark Biglow make a short documentry (18 minutes) of the Fireball Ceremony - 'The Swinging of the Fireballs' DVD. It starts with the barriers going up and finishes with the last firework. The swingers and marshals tell of why they do what they do and of memories from the past. The atmosphere that is created is very close to being there so if you can get your timing right you can celebrate a true Steenhive Hogmanay in the comfort of your own home!

The other DVD 'Additional Material' has video, film and TV clips as well as press clippings from most of the coverage in the local paper. There is also a written history of the event and poems, short stories, etc.etc. This disc is best played in a computer DVD reader as there are quite a number of 'Word' files.

 

The cost is £15.00 + post and packing - £1.50 for UK, £2.50 for the rest of the world.  For ordering and payment - Send us an e-mail via the 'Contact Us' tab.