Scotland’s traditional name for its New Year celebrations is Hogmanay. The word covers the festivities surrounding the last day of the year and the arrival of the new one, including concerts, torchlight processions, street parties, and customary visits.
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay became internationally prominent through large organized events, although celebrations take place throughout Scotland. A central custom is “first-footing”: the first person to enter a household after midnight is traditionally expected to bring symbolic gifts such as whisky, shortbread, coal, or salt.
Hogmanay’s exact word origin is uncertain. Proposed explanations connect it with French, Norse, Gaelic, and Scots-language influences, reflecting Scotland’s layered history. The holiday also preserves older winter customs that were shaped by the Reformation and changing religious attitudes toward Christmas.
The song “Auld Lang Syne,” associated with Robert Burns, is commonly sung at midnight, but it is not itself the name of the celebration. Hogmanay refers to the broader Scottish New Year festival.