Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and the celebration traditionally associated with Edinburgh's major winter festivities.
Edinburgh's modern Hogmanay program has included a torchlight procession, concerts, street parties, and fireworks. The events turn the change of year into a multi-day festival rather than a single midnight gathering. Exact programs can change from year to year, so the festival's components are not all permanent.
The word Hogmanay has uncertain origins, with proposed influences from Scots, French, Norse, and other languages. Scottish customs connected with the occasion include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight brings symbolic gifts and good fortune.
Hogmanay is not the same as Burns Night, which commemorates poet Robert Burns on January 25. Nor is it simply the name of Edinburgh's street party: it refers broadly to Scottish New Year's Eve traditions and celebrations.