A Hogmanay festival long overdue for Kirkcaldy

The Town Square will once again be filled with crowds, music and noise after sitting silent for the past 17 years.

The days when we could simply congregate in the area without marshalls, barriers and wristbands, and see in the New Year with a dram and a handshake seem to belong in the past.

The Town Square was a smashing meeting point before anything organised ever took centre stage, and it was a shame it withered so quickly after all the hype of the millennium.

As with everything related to Kirkcaldy and its town centre , new initiatives seem to take an enternity to come to fruitition – we really need to change that mindset in 2018 and speed things up.

But ... it’s Hogmanay, the stage is set and the town has a smashing three-day ‘Twixmas’ event which is aimed at families and has enough in its programme to bring people back into the heart of our town.

All credit to the organisers for rolling up their sleeves and putting it together.

We hope it is the first of many more to come.

There is absolutely no reason why Kirkcaldy cannot sustain an annual event at this time of year.

The Town Square is woefully under-used. Let’s change that too in 2018.

We should be looking at other towns and cities, seeing how they do things and then adapting their ideas and making them even better for folk here.

There are plenty of individuals and groups willing to pitch in. Let’s tap into that network and make the town centre buzz with events, noise, fun ... and people.

We’ve said it before, and will say it over and over to ensure the message gets through to those who hold the purse strings or yield power – 2018 must be the year of delivery for Kirkcaldy.

So, let’s make our Twixmas an annual event.