Dublin’s fair city is the place to be when ringing in the new year, according to Lonely Planet.
The tourist guide has chosen its top five destinations for New Year’s Eve 2012 and has included Dublin in it. The other choices were Prague in the Czech Republic, the New South Wales coast, Chiang Mai in Thailand and the French Alps. The Lonely Planet website chose Dublin for the impressive annual fireworks display and “the torchlit procession of floats, fire breathers and stilt walkers”.
This year’s New Year’s festival will be bigger to mark the start of The Gathering 2013. People worldwide have been invited to take part in a procession with candles, lanterns or torches, followed by an open air concert at College Green.
More than 5,000 people attended the New Year’s Eve event in Dublin last year where The Coronas, Paul Brady, Damien Dempsey, Bressie and members of the Riverdance troupe performed.
Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar described Dublin’s inclusion as a positive message. “I would urge Irish people everywhere to join in the celebrations in Dublin or with their own local festival.”