Scotland’s New Year’s Eve celebration is called Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish observance of the final day of the year and the welcoming of the next one. Its customs include visiting friends and family after midnight, singing “Auld Lang Syne,” and first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is thought to influence the household’s luck.
Edinburgh hosts one of the world’s best-known Hogmanay programs, combining concerts, a torchlight procession, and a large street celebration. Other Scottish communities hold local bonfires, dances, and fire festivals. The word’s precise origin is disputed, with proposed links to Scandinavian, French, Gaelic, and Scots language traditions.
Hogmanay is sometimes treated as simply the Scottish name for New Year’s Eve, but it also refers to a distinctive collection of Scottish customs. Christmas historically had a lower public profile in Scotland than Hogmanay, although Christmas celebrations are now widespread.