The midnight New Year's Eve celebration held in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens and along the Royal Mile is Edinburgh's Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the New Year celebration, and Edinburgh's version developed into a major festival featuring concerts, street parties, torchlight events, and a midnight fireworks display. Its modern public program has changed over time, with organizers adapting routes, venues, and crowd arrangements.
The festival is distinct from the separate torchlight procession, which is often held before the main New Year's Eve events. Edinburgh's celebration also incorporates Scottish customs such as singing “Auld Lang Syne” and first-footing, the practice of being the first visitor to enter a home after midnight.
Hogmanay is not simply another name for Christmas. Historical restrictions on Christmas celebrations in Scotland helped give New Year a particularly prominent place in Scottish seasonal culture, although modern holiday practices overlap.