Newburgh Oddfellows Parade

Before the midnight celebrations get going around the country for Hogmanay, a small town in Fife marks New Year’s Eve with a unique torchlit procession. The parade is headed by the Apprentice, riding backwards on an enormous Clydesdale horse and wearing masks which face both ways looking to the old year and the new, led by a Guard. The Apprentice is followed by characters in often rather sinister fancy dress, who enjoy scaring the onlookers, carrying children off up the road at speed, stealing hats and other menacing activities. Even the nearest and dearest of the participants have trouble in working out who is who as the costumes and the identity of the Apprentice are kept under wraps beforehand.The group is accompanied by a brass band, with a few stops along the route for a warming dram or two. It’s organised by the local Oddfellows group, who collect money on the night for local charities. The Oddfellows were founded as a society for working men with pensions, insurance and other benefits in return for a subscription; many of these groups disappeared with the foundation of the Welfare State and the Newburgh group is the only one active in Scotland today; the Apprentice is one of the most recent initiates into the society. The event goes ahead whatever the weather and has been known to take place in snow and ice – the residents are a hardy bunch and not easily deterred! The tradition has been going for over a century and the parade takes around an hour and is a popular spectacle with all age groups, though surprisingly little known outside of the town.

Helpful Hints

The High Street is closed to traffic for the duration of the parade, which lasts around an hour. There’s a handy village car-park at the west end of the High Street, which had plenty of space when we visited. Collection buckets are carried throughout the procession and proceeds raised are given to local charities.

Click here for the Oddfellows’ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NCLOddfellows/