Edinburgh hosts the annual Hogmanay street celebration on Princes Street.
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and the surrounding New Year festivities. Edinburgh's modern celebration developed into a major organized event featuring concerts, processions, fireworks and a large street party in the city center. Princes Street, beneath Edinburgh Castle, is one of its best-known settings.
The word Hogmanay has a debated origin, with proposed links to French, Norse and Scots vocabulary. Scottish New Year customs also include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is traditionally expected to bring symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread or whisky.
Edinburgh's event is distinct from the similarly famous Hogmanay celebrations held elsewhere in Scotland. It is also different from the torchlight procession, which forms part of the broader Edinburgh festivities but is not the name of the whole celebration.