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An estimated 300,000 people attended Edinburgh's famous Hogmanay
street party to celebrate New Year's Eve 1996/97. This caused severe
overcrowding and 600 people had to be treated in hospital after being
crushed by the crowds. In recent years the festival has had to be
reduced in size to prevent
a serious tragedy.
An estimated 3,000,000 Muslims attended the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca
in 2006. If Hogmanay was held in Mecca instead of Edinburgh, it could
grow to ten times the size before overcrowding became a problem.
(Thanks to [hippo] for the title)
[link]
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Plus the weather is better [+] |
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Ye gads man, this is possibly the most half-baked idea I have *ever* seen. Moving a couple of hundred thousand party-goers, many of whom will be (happy) drunken Scots to the religious capital of a faith that abstains from alcohol, in a country where booze is illegal? Utter madness. |
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Furthermore, the differences in Calendars used by the Scots and Muslim populations would mean that every 33 years, the two occasions would overlap - testing the hitherto untried concept of merging an Islamic holy Pilgrimage with a traditional North-European booze-up. What could possibly go wrong? |
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I always thought those Gay Pride celebrations looked a little overcrowded - if this idea worked, perhaps they could consider a similar solution for those events as well. |
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Similarly, some of the more crowded "Gentlemen's Entertainment" venues might consider relocating somewhere more open plan? It would certainly make adhering to fire regulations an easier prospect. |
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Conversely, perhaps they could move the Hajj to New York city? |
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// Moving a couple of hundred thousand party-goers, many of whom will be (happy) drunken Scots //
Good point [jb] - the airlines are not too keen on passengers who are in wine.
Perhaps they could be shipped over, in returning empty bulk oil carriers. |
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I remember somebody jesting that that big black rock was cast down from the heavens as somebody prayed to God for bread. |
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Easily the most site appropriate idea i have ever read. I love it! |
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Can we send Jools Holland and his Hootenanny over there while we're at it? |
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Slight flaw in your plan... Mecca won't allow any non-Muslims into the city. Hard to believe that they can get away with this but its true. |
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//Mecca won't allow any non-Muslims into the city// |
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<broad scots accent> I'm muslim! And so's my wife! <bsa> |
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Just combine them into a sort of "Hajjmanay" - then everyone will be happy. |
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//Hajj usually results in crushing deaths// Sounds like this year's "Black Friday" event in the US - a sales promotion this year resulted in 3 people being killed - from one story about the events: |
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"Some shoppers, when interviewed, said they would never participate in another Black Friday event. They are truly shocked by how greed for bargain-basement sales led to someone's death." |
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//"Hajjmanay"//
Bun for anno |
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God's way of gathering the extremely loved to his bosom sooner, Shirley? |
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Move the ridiculously overcrowded Lewes Bonfire Night celebrations to Mecca too. The Lewes tradition of burning an effigy of the Pope should go down well, at least. |
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...and the weird[*] wannabe-druid summer solstice thing they do at Stonehenge
[* weird because the design of Stonehenge suggests it was actually used to celebrate the winter solstice, which makes much more sense - time of rebirth, new year, and all that] |
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//the design of Stonehenge suggests it was actually used to celebrate the winter solstice//
Don't be daft - it that were the case, then they'd've put a roof on and fitted central heating. Have you ever been on Salisbury Plain in the middle of Winter? |
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Other festivals/events to move:
Hay-On-Wye book festival;
The Edinburgh Festival (and Festival Fringe);
The 12th July;
Harvest Festivals various;
assorted festivals of (a) the sea, (b) politics, (c) literature, (d) botulism, (e) the Bee Gees, (f) little Tommy squeakers, (g) angry geese, (h) Tallulah Bankhead and (i) pampas grass. |
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Ah, the bi-annual Barnstable Botulism Barndance & Buffet. How I miss it! |
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What, have Hajj franchises all over the world? Maybe that's Starbucks' secret plan - I can't believe anyone goes there for the coffee. |
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CAABA, n. A large stone presented by the archangel Gabriel to the patriarch Abraham, and preserved at Mecca. The patriarch had perhaps asked the archangel for bread.
--- The Devil's Dictionary |
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So, everybody who claims to be the descendants of Abraham has the right to congregate around that black rock, whatever the time or season. |
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Right. Never were two calmer and more reasonable groups of people proposed for a tempo-spatial intersection. |
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The first "whaeruuulookenah?" and you'll have the biggest street brawl in history |
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