Torches are commonly carried during Edinburgh's Hogmanay Torchlight Procession.
The procession is one of Edinburgh's best-known New Year's Eve events. Participants carry flaming torches through the city, creating a large moving stream of light before celebrations continue with concerts, street events, and the midnight countdown. The route and arrangements can change between years, so the procession should not be confused with one permanently fixed ceremony.
Hogmanay is the Scottish word for New Year's Eve and also refers to the broader Scottish New Year celebration. Its customs include singing “Auld Lang Syne,” visiting friends and relatives, and first-footing, in which the first person to enter a household after midnight is traditionally associated with the household's luck.
Edinburgh's torch procession is a modern public event rather than a simple unchanged survival from ancient Scotland. It draws on fire and winter festival imagery while presenting the city as a major international New Year's destination. The torch itself, rather than a candle or lantern, is the defining object named in the event's title.