Edinburgh's famous multi-day New Year's celebration is called Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish word for New Year's Eve and, by extension, the surrounding celebrations. Edinburgh's modern festival developed into a large public event featuring concerts, torchlight processions, street parties, and fireworks. It is among Scotland's most internationally recognized cultural celebrations.
The word's origin is uncertain. Linguists and historians have proposed several possible French, Norse, Gaelic, and Scots connections, but no single explanation is universally accepted. The celebration itself reflects a mixture of older winter customs and later Scottish traditions.
A key Hogmanay custom is first-footing. The first person to enter a home after midnight is traditionally expected to bring symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread, salt, or whisky. Hogmanay is sometimes treated as simply the Scottish name for a party, but it also includes distinctive regional customs and a substantial public festival program.