Edinburgh hosts the Hogmanay event known for the Loony Dook cold-water plunge.
The Loony Dook is an annual New Year's Day dip in the River Forth at South Queensferry, near Edinburgh. Participants often wear costumes and enter the cold water after the city's Hogmanay celebrations. The name combines “loony,” meaning crazy, with “dook,” a Scots word for a dip or swim.
The event began in 1986 as a small charitable swim and became a recognizable part of Edinburgh's New Year program. South Queensferry's setting beneath the Forth Bridge gives the plunge a distinctive landmark backdrop.
The Loony Dook is sometimes described as an Edinburgh New Year's Eve tradition, but the swim itself occurs on January 1. It is separate from the Hogmanay street party and from Scotland's other winter fire ceremonies, including Stonehaven's Fireballs.