Edinburgh stages Scotland's best-known annual Hogmanay street party and fireworks celebration.
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and the surrounding celebrations. Edinburgh's modern festival developed into a large, organized event featuring concerts, a torchlight procession, street festivities, and fireworks near Edinburgh Castle. The exact program and crowd arrangements can change from year to year.
The celebration draws on older Scottish customs, including first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is believed to influence the household's luck. Traditional gifts such as whisky, shortbread, coal, or salt have been associated with the custom.
Edinburgh's festivities are not the only Hogmanay events in Scotland. Cities, towns, and villages across the country hold their own gatherings, music events, and local traditions. Edinburgh is singled out because its central street party and castle backdrop made it an internationally recognized New Year's destination.