Which New Year's Eve celebration in Edinburgh traditionally begins with a torchlight procession?

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay traditionally begins with a torchlight procession.

The procession is one of the best-known opening events of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations. Participants carrying torches move through the city, creating a river of light before the main New Year festivities. The route and organization have changed over time, but the event is closely associated with Edinburgh’s large-scale winter celebration.

Hogmanay is the Scottish term for New Year’s Eve and the surrounding New Year customs. Edinburgh’s modern festival includes concerts, street parties, fireworks, and the torchlight procession, attracting visitors from around the world. Its traditions combine older Scottish customs with modern public-event programming.

The procession is not the same as the midnight fireworks or the first-footing custom. First-footing concerns the first person to enter a home after midnight, while the torchlight procession is a public event held before the year changes. That distinction helps separate Edinburgh’s opening ceremony from the rest of Hogmanay.