Edinburgh’s New Year’s Eve festival featuring a torchlight procession and street party is called Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the final day of the year and for the celebrations surrounding it. Edinburgh’s modern festival includes public events such as a torchlight procession, concerts, and a large street party, although exact programs can change between years.
Scottish New Year customs also include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is traditionally expected to bring symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread, or whisky. These customs are separate from the festival’s ticketed public events.
Hogmanay is not the same as Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns on January 25. It is also distinct from St Andrew’s Day, Scotland’s national day, observed on November 30.