Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's Eve celebration that includes traditional music, dancing, and fire rituals.
The word Hogmanay refers to the Scottish New Year festival and, by extension, to New Year's Eve itself. Modern celebrations can include street parties, concerts, torchlight processions, ceilidh dancing, and fireworks.
Edinburgh hosts one of the world's best-known Hogmanay programs, but celebrations take place throughout Scotland. Customs associated with the festival include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight brings symbolic gifts such as shortbread, whisky, or coal.
Fire has a prominent role in several Scottish New Year traditions, including torchlit events and fireball ceremonies. Hogmanay is not identical to Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns on January 25, and it is not the same festival as Beltane, a seasonal celebration held in spring.