Edinburgh's large New Year's celebration is called Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scots name for New Year's Eve festivities, and Edinburgh has developed one of the world's most prominent modern celebrations under that name. Events have included a torchlight procession, outdoor concerts, a major street party, and midnight fireworks near Edinburgh Castle, although programs can change from year to year.
The celebration reflects a mixture of Scottish customs and newer public entertainment. One famous tradition is “first-footing,” in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is associated with good fortune. Gifts, food, drink, and symbolic coal or shortbread may be part of regional versions of the custom.
Hogmanay is not the name of a single performance or one fixed ritual. Scotland uses the word broadly for New Year's celebrations, while Edinburgh's branded event is especially well known internationally. Burns Night, held in January, honors poet Robert Burns and is a separate Scottish occasion.