The New Year's Eve celebration at Edinburgh Castle and across Scotland is called Hogmanay.
Edinburgh's modern Hogmanay is a large public festival featuring concerts, street celebrations, torchlight events, and fireworks. The castle is an important visual setting, but Hogmanay is not limited to Edinburgh: towns and communities throughout Scotland mark the occasion with their own gatherings and customs.
The festival's prominence reflects the special importance historically given to New Year in Scotland. Christmas celebrations were restricted or discouraged in parts of Scotland after the Reformation, so New Year became a particularly significant season for visiting, feasting, music, and household rituals.
First-footing is one of the best-known customs associated with the wider celebration. It involves the first visitor entering a home after midnight, traditionally carrying symbolic gifts. Although modern events are highly organized, these older domestic traditions remain part of the cultural story of Hogmanay.