Edinburgh's major New Year's Eve festival is traditionally called Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and also refers to the celebrations held across Scotland. Edinburgh's modern festival grew into a large, internationally known event featuring concerts, street gatherings, torchlight processions, and fireworks. The exact origin of the word “Hogmanay” is uncertain, and scholars have proposed several Scots, French, Norse, and Gaelic connections.
Scottish customs associated with Hogmanay include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is believed to influence the household's luck. Traditional gifts such as coal, shortbread, whisky, or salt symbolize warmth, food, hospitality, or prosperity. Hogmanay is not the same event as Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns on January 25, or Up Helly Aa, a separate fire festival held in Shetland.