The Scottish New Year's Eve festival whose modern revival began in Edinburgh in 1993 is called Hogmanay.
Edinburgh's modern Hogmanay celebration was launched in 1993 as a major organized festival, building on Scotland's long-standing New Year customs. It developed into a multi-day event featuring concerts, street entertainment, torchlight processions, and a large gathering in the city center.
The word Hogmanay refers to New Year's Eve in Scotland, but its exact origin remains debated. Proposed linguistic explanations connect it with French, Gaelic, Norse, and Scots terms, so no single etymology is universally accepted. The festival itself reflects layers of Scottish and wider northern European winter traditions.
Hogmanay is often linked with singing “Auld Lang Syne,” written from a Scots poem associated with Robert Burns. First-footing, in which the first visitor after midnight brings symbolic gifts, is another Scottish custom connected with New Year. These customs are related, but Hogmanay is the name of the holiday and festival, not the name of one particular song or visiting ritual.