Hogmanay is the Scottish name commonly used for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The word refers both to the final day of the old year and to the Scottish festivities surrounding the transition into the new one. Hogmanay customs include singing “Auld Lang Syne,” visiting friends and relatives, carrying gifts, and “first-footing,” in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is thought to influence the household’s luck.
Large public celebrations take place in cities including Edinburgh, where street parties, concerts, and fireworks have made Hogmanay internationally famous. Scotland’s celebrations developed through a mixture of older winter customs, Christian calendar traditions, and later urban festivities.
First-footing traditionally favored a dark-haired man as the first visitor and associated gifts such as coal, shortbread, salt, or whisky with warmth, food, prosperity, and hospitality. Customs differ by region and household, so no single ritual defines every Scottish celebration.