Jools’ Annual Hootenanny is a TV show presented by Jools Holland and broadcast on New Year Eve as an end-of-year special edition of his series Later…With Jools Holland. It is generally broadcast between approximately 11pm on 31 December and between 1am and 2am the following morning in the United Kingdom on BBC Two. It was first broadcast in 1993.
The advance-recorded show features a Hogmanay party atmosphere with all the guests (drawn from across the world of showbusiness) and other guest audience members present, and the artists themselves getting involved alongside a variety of musical acts by the artists from various genres who perform both before and after midnight.
There is a countdown to the midnight start of the New Year, followed by a traditional rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”, often with the Pipes and Drums of the Scots Guards. Among the regular events of the evening is the spot where Holland asks actor and comedian Rowland Rivron his predictions for the year ahead/his New Year’s resolutions. Editions also feature a white-suited man with a clock for a face named Father Time or Clockman.
The show is pre-recorded, but is presented as if live, with a countdown to midnight and references to the new calendar year. Artists appearing on the programme while performing live at New Year celebrations elsewhere, and guests mentioning New Year’s Eve instead of New Year’s Day after the pre-recorded countdown, have led viewers to complain that they were deceived. The BBC has described the show as “an idealised New Year’s Eve party with a line-up that would surely be impossible to deliver on 31 December”.
After a thoroughly eventful year, Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra reunite to joyfully welcome the new year with his annual Hootenanny. As we wave goodbye to 2020 and look forward to 2021, Jools invites another spectacular cast of guest artists to help put on the best party in town, whilst also taking the time to reflect on the years gone by with some of the best performances in the illustrious Hootenanny archive.
Joining Jools and his orchestra in the studio this year are Celeste, Sir Tom Jones, Michael Kiwanuka, Róisín Murphy, Rag’n’Bone Man, Rick Wakeman, Ruby Turner, and the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards. Jools also takes a look back at some of the incredible Hootenanny performances from the archive, including the likes of Jamiroquai, Rudimental and Ella Eyre, Madness, ABC and Aloe Blacc, promising a musical celebration with a nostalgic nod to the past and a warm welcome to the year ahead.
