The Scottish festival celebrated with major public events on New Year's Eve is Hogmanay.
Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the year and for the celebrations surrounding it. Modern festivities often include street parties, concerts, fireworks, torchlight processions, and visits between friends and relatives. Edinburgh hosts one of the largest organized Hogmanay celebrations.
A famous custom is first-footing. After midnight, the first person to enter a household is traditionally expected to bring good fortune, sometimes symbolized by gifts such as coal, shortbread, or whisky. Dark-haired first-footers were historically regarded as especially lucky in some areas.
Hogmanay is not simply another name for Christmas. Scotland's Christmas celebrations were historically more restrained, while New Year traditions remained especially prominent. The exact origins of the word Hogmanay are uncertain, with several linguistic theories proposed.