Loony Dook

On New Year's Day, typically in the morning (but times vary according to tides),{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghguide.com/events/loonydook|title=Stoats Loony Dook|publisher=EdinburghGuide.com |date=2017-07-19}} Many dookers first take part in the Dookers' Fancy Dress Parade, leading from the Hawes car park to the old mole.{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghguide.com/events/loonydook|title=Stoats Loony Dook|publisher=EdinburghGuide.com |date=2017-07-19}} Spectators cheer on the participants at various vantage points.

The Dookers are then greeted by bagpipe pipers{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/you-d-be-barking-to-splash-out-163-6-on-the-loony-dook-1-1311094|title=You'd be barking to splash out £6 on the Loony Dook!|publisher=Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2010-10-27}} and warmed with bowls of "energising porridge", prior to plunging themselves into the freezing Firth of Forth.{{cite web|url=http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/blog/newsblog/post/893/loony-dook-to-turn-30|title= Loony Dook to turn 30|publisher=Edinburgh.gov.uk|date=2015-09-10}}

The event was conceived in 1986 as a joking suggestion by three locals for a New Year's Day hangover cure.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7806037.stm |title= Loony Dookers take the icy plunge |publisher=BBC News |date=2009-01-01}} The following year, it was decided to repeat the event for charity.

After a few years of only local significance, the event gradually grew in the 1990s, both in popularity and number of participants. The growth accelerated after the event began to be mentioned in the official Edinburgh Hogmanay publicity material and got a boost when the Millennium edition was broadcast live by the BBC.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/how-the-loony-dook-became-a-scottish-new-year-tradition-1-4327209|title=How the Loony Dook became a Scottish New Year tradition|publisher= Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2016-12-28}}

Originally organised by locals and starting from the Moorings pub (now the Inchcolm), factors such as increased crowds, safety issues and popularity necessitated a different handling. As a consequence, the events from 2009 onwards were professionally handled by event managers Unique Events.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/how-the-loony-dook-became-a-scottish-new-year-tradition-1-4327209|title=How the Loony Dook became a Scottish New Year tradition|publisher= Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2016-12-28}} Being the organisers of the Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival, they included the Loony Dook into the latter from 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/how-the-loony-dook-became-a-scottish-new-year-tradition-1-4327209|title=How the Loony Dook became a Scottish New Year tradition|publisher= Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2016-12-28}} In the same year a registration fee was introduced to cover the cost of organisation and stewarding. The fee of originally £6 was raised to £10 in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghguide.com/events/loonydook|title=Stoats Loony Dook|publisher=EdinburghGuide.com |date=2017-07-19}}

This went up to £12 in 2020, attracting criticism from the event's founders, who described it as a "damned disgrace".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50998324|title=Scotland's papers: Sir Rod Stewart charged and Loony Dook 'disgrace' |work=BBC News |date=5 January 2020 }} In 2021 and 2022 the event did not take place, due to Covid, and in 2023 and 2024 the event reverted to local control, with no entry fee but a voluntary charity donation.

The proceeds benefit RNLI Queensferry and local charities.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/how-the-loony-dook-became-a-scottish-new-year-tradition-1-4327209|title=How the Loony Dook became a Scottish New Year tradition|publisher= Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2016-12-28}}

The Loony Dook received sponsorship from the tour company Haggis Adventures (from 2011){{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/you-d-be-barking-to-splash-out-163-6-on-the-loony-dook-1-1311094|title=You'd be barking to splash out £6 on the Loony Dook!|publisher=Johnston Publishing Ltd.|date=2010-10-27}} and then from the porridge company Stoats.

Up to 2016, three of the original Dookers, James MacKenzie, Iain 'Rambo' Armstrong and Kenny Ross, have the distinction of taking part in every Loony Dook and the trio wore specially designed T-shirts with '30 yrs' to celebrate the achievement.{{cite web|url=http://www.linlithgowgazette.co.uk/news/local-news/friends-celebrate-30th-time-participating-in-south-queensferry-loony-dook-1-3991071 |title= Friends celebrate 30th time participating in South Queensferry Loony Dook|publisher=Linlithgow Gazette |date=2016-01-05}}

==Other Loony Dooks==

The event has inspired similar annual New Year's day Loony Dooks, such as in North Berwick and Dunbar in East Lothian, Portobello in Edinburgh, St Andrews, Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy in Fife and Coldingham Sands in Berwickshire all of which are on the south east coast of Scotland.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12104501 |title=In pictures: Loony Dook 2011 – North Berwick |publisher=BBC News Scotland |date=2011-01-02}}{{cite web|url=https://www.justgiving.com/Loonydook-Kirkcaldy/ |title=Langtoun Loonies – Kirkcaldy's fundraising for Breast Cancer, Scotland |publisher=www.justgiving.com |date=2011-01-01}}

• Edinburgh's Hogmanay
• South Queensferry
• Forth Bridge

{{reflist|2}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_vmSRJ2haI South Queensferry Stoats Loony Dook 2016] on YouTube
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNG5cWvNhag Stoats 2016 Loony Dook New Years Day South Queensferry Near Edinburgh Scotland] on YouTube

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Category:1986 establishments in Scotland

Category:Recurring events established in 1986

Category:Festivals in Edinburgh

Category:Annual events in Scotland

Category:Hogmanay

Category:Firth of Forth

Category:Swimming in Scotland