Hogmanay is the name of Edinburgh's large organized New Year's Eve street celebration.
Edinburgh Hogmanay is a major Scottish festival built around the arrival of the New Year. Its program has included torchlight processions, concerts, street parties, fireworks, and the traditional singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” The events take place across central Edinburgh, with Edinburgh Castle often forming a dramatic backdrop.
The word Hogmanay refers more broadly to Scottish New Year's Eve customs, not only to Edinburgh's commercial festival. Its exact origin is uncertain; proposed explanations connect it with Scots, French, Norse, and Gaelic influences, but no single etymology is universally accepted.
Scottish customs associated with Hogmanay include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight brings symbolic gifts. The festival has also developed into a major international tourism event, so it should not be confused with Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns in January.