Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve celebrations.
Hogmanay is Scotland's traditional celebration of the final day of the year, with festivities often continuing into New Year's Day. Major celebrations have included street parties, torchlight processions, concerts, and the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.”
The word's exact origin remains uncertain. Proposed explanations connect it with Scandinavian, French, Gaelic, and Middle English terms, but no single derivation has been definitively established. This uncertainty is part of why the term is distinctive in English-language New Year vocabulary.
Hogmanay customs vary by region. “First-footing” traditionally holds that the first person to enter a home after midnight can influence the household's luck, with gifts such as shortbread, coal, or whisky sometimes carried for prosperity. Hogmanay is not the same holiday as Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns in January.