Edinburgh is the city most famously associated with the New Year’s Eve celebration known as Hogmanay.
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is a major multi-day festival featuring concerts, street celebrations, a torchlight procession, and a large midnight gathering. Its events use prominent parts of the Scottish capital, including the city centre and historic streets near Edinburgh Castle. The festival has become one of Scotland’s best-known international cultural events.
Hogmanay itself is the Scots term for New Year’s Eve, and celebrations occur across Scotland, not only in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the most prominent city association because of the scale, branding, and international profile of its organized festival.
The city’s celebration should not be confused with Scotland’s separate first-footing customs, in which the first visitor to enter a home after midnight is traditionally linked with good fortune. Those household traditions can accompany Hogmanay but are not the name of the festival or city event.