The New Year's Eve celebration of Hogmanay takes place in December.
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve, so the main celebration occurs on December 31. Festivities often continue into January 1 and may extend across several days, but the event's defining night remains the final evening of December.
In Edinburgh, the program can include a torchlight procession before New Year's Eve, concerts and street parties on December 31, and a traditional “first-footing” period after midnight. First-footing refers to visiting friends or neighbors after the new year begins, often carrying symbolic gifts such as food or drink.
The word Hogmanay is sometimes used loosely for the entire Scottish New Year period. That broader usage can cause confusion about the date, but the holiday itself is New Year's Eve, December 31, rather than New Year's Day, January 1.