Edinburgh hosts Scotland’s famous Hogmanay street party and one of the world’s largest New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the final day of the year and for the Scottish New Year festivities surrounding it. Edinburgh’s modern celebration developed into a major organized event in the late twentieth century, with concerts, torchlit processions, street gatherings, and fireworks around the city’s historic center. The exact program and capacity have varied by year.
The celebration incorporates customs associated with Scotland, including singing “Auld Lang Syne” and the practice of first-footing. In that tradition, the first person to enter a household after midnight is expected to bring good fortune, traditionally with symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread, or whisky. Edinburgh’s event is sometimes confused with Hogmanay as a whole: Hogmanay is a nationwide Scottish festival, while Edinburgh’s street party is its best-known large public gathering.