Scotland’s traditional name for New Year celebrations is Hogmanay.
Hogmanay refers to Scotland’s New Year’s Eve and New Year festivities, especially the celebrations held on 31 December and 1 January. Edinburgh’s modern Hogmanay is internationally known for concerts, street celebrations and a torchlight procession.
The word’s origin is uncertain. Proposed explanations connect it with Scandinavian, French, Gaelic and northern English terms, but no single derivation is universally accepted. The celebration itself developed from winter customs that survived alongside, and sometimes separately from, Christmas traditions.
A famous Hogmanay custom is first-footing: the first person to enter a home after midnight traditionally brings symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread or whisky. “Auld Lang Syne” is also strongly associated with Scottish New Year celebrations, although it is sung in many countries.