Edinburgh hosts the Hogmanay street party known for torchlight processions and fireworks.
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year’s Eve and the surrounding celebrations. Edinburgh’s modern festival grew into a large, organized event featuring a torchlight procession, outdoor concerts, dancing, and fireworks near Edinburgh Castle. The city’s historic streets and castle backdrop have made the festival an internationally recognized Scottish New Year celebration.
The event is often described simply as “Hogmanay,” but the word can refer to Scottish New Year customs generally, not only Edinburgh’s festival. Traditional practices associated with Hogmanay include first-footing, in which the first person to enter a home after midnight is thought to influence the household’s luck. Edinburgh’s organized street party is therefore one part of a wider Scottish tradition, rather than the definition of Hogmanay itself.