Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's celebration known for torchlight processions and fire festivals.
Hogmanay refers to the Scottish observance of New Year's Eve and the celebrations extending into New Year's Day. Major events can include concerts, street parties, ceilidhs, fireworks and torchlit parades. Edinburgh's festivities are particularly well known, while Stonehaven's fireball ceremony is another distinctive Scottish event associated with the season.
The celebration developed from older winter customs and Scotland's historical calendar traditions. Its name has uncertain origins, with proposed connections to Scandinavian, French and Gaelic terms. The custom of “first-footing” is central in many communities: the first person to enter a household after midnight traditionally brings symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread or whisky.
Hogmanay is sometimes mistakenly treated as simply the Scottish word for a party. It is a broad cultural celebration with regional forms and customs. It is also separate from Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns on January 25, and from Up Helly Aa, a Shetland fire festival held later in winter.