New Year’s Eve may be an important tradition for some, but for the Scots, something much bigger goes down: Hogmanay.

The people of Scotland spend three days celebrating the biggest event in their festive calendar.

Whiskey is drunk, stuff gets set on fire, and the Scots wake up on 2 January to their hangover cure of choice, Irn Bru and a steak pie.

What is it?

Hogmanay is the Scottish term for New Year’s Eve celebrations.


There’s no clear origin for the word – some say it’s a corrupt version of the Greek words for ‘holy month’.

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Others trace the word’s roots to 17th century French, where hoguinané translates as ‘last day of the year, new year’s gift’.



The celebration itself has been around for centuries.

When did it start?

Hogmanay has Viking origins. When Norse invaders celebrated the winter solstice, they’d have wild parties in late December.

The parties started including elements of the Gaelic Samhain winter festival, celebrating the start of winter, and Yule.

Now the celebration is a mix of these influences.

Why is it such a massive event?

Until pretty recently, the Scots didn’t do Christmas – the Protestant Reformation effectively banned the holiday for 400 years.

Christmas Day wasn’t a public holiday in Scotland until 1958, and Boxing Day wasn’t one until 1974.

As a result, family get-togethers went down during Hogmanay instead.

How is it different from other New Year’s celebrations?

It’s longer The celebration begins on New Year’s Eve but carries on until 2 January, which is a public holiday in Scotland.

How is Hogmanay celebrated?

As well as partying, the Scots observe a number of traditions.

The most well-known is first-footing, where the first person to enter the house brings gifts such as food or coal.

First-footing traditionally affects the household’s fortunes for the next year – ideally, the first-footer is a tall, dark man, so if your only option is a short blonde woman, you’re in trouble.

Other traditions include cleaning the house before the start of Hogmanay and singing Auld Lang Syne – if you don’t know the words, they’re here.

Are there any big events?

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is the one to be at – a massive torchlit parade on 30 December kicks off the celebration, which includes a fireworks display, music performances and a crowd from over 60 different countries.

#edhogmanay light up the streets of Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/24SlXnlmhP — Mark Payne (@markyboy221069) December 30, 2016

Isn’t late December in Scotland going to bring awful weather for a party?

In short, yes. Severe weather caused parties in 2003 and 2006 to be stopped.

This year, there will be scattered showers, but it shouldn’t be too cold.

Do people have weird Hogmanay traditions?

The locals of Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, make balls of chicken wire, paper and rags, set them on fire, and swing them around. As you do.

The Stoats Loony Dook event takes place at South Queensferry – thousands of Dookers will march the length of the high street before plunging themselves into the River Forth to raise money for charity.

In Kirkwall, the ‘Ba Game’, a massive version of street football that can last anything between four minutes and five hours, takes place – and can feature as many as 350 players.

How do I celebrate Hogmanay properly?

There’s no correct way to celebrate Hogmanay, but many Scots will have a meal with family and/or friends, drink plenty of whiskey to toast the new year, then have a steak pie for dinner the following day.



Their traditional hangover cure is Irn Bru – but there are other options to try if you’re struggling after your own New Year’s celebrations.

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