What is Hogmanay the Scottish term for?

Hogmanay is the Scottish term for New Year's Eve.

The word refers both to the final day of the year and to the wider Scottish celebrations surrounding the arrival of the new year. Traditions vary across Scotland but commonly include gatherings, singing, torchlight events, fireworks, and the custom of first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is thought to influence the household's luck.

A traditional first-footer may bring symbolic gifts such as shortbread, coal, salt, or whisky. In some regions, a tall, dark-haired visitor was historically considered especially lucky, although modern celebrations are much less uniform.

Hogmanay became particularly prominent in Scotland after the Reformation, when Christmas festivities were restricted for long periods and New Year's celebrations gained greater cultural importance. The word's exact origin remains uncertain; proposed explanations include Norse, French, and Scots sources. Hogmanay is therefore more than a translation of “New Year's Eve”: it names a distinctive set of Scottish customs and public celebrations.