Which Scottish New Year's Eve celebration is famous for its torchlight procession and street parties?

Edinburgh's Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's Eve celebration famous for its torchlight procession and large street parties.

Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and the surrounding celebrations. Edinburgh's modern festival developed into a major public event featuring concerts, a large street gathering, and a torchlight procession through the city. The celebration draws on Scottish customs while presenting them in a civic festival format for residents and visitors.

The torchlight procession traditionally travels through central Edinburgh toward a ceremonial gathering. Other familiar Hogmanay practices include singing “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight and first-footing, in which the first visitor to enter a home after midnight is associated with the household's luck for the coming year.

Hogmanay is sometimes treated as interchangeable with Christmas, but Scotland historically gave New Year a particularly prominent place in the winter calendar. Edinburgh's event is also distinct from Burns Night, which honors poet Robert Burns on January 25, and from Up Helly Aa, a separate Shetland fire festival held later in winter.