Hogmanay
Next: December 31, 2026
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet.
The story
Where it comes from
Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve, 31 December, and for centuries it was Scotland's great winter festival. After the Reformation of 1560 the Church of Scotland discouraged Christmas as a Catholic feast, and in 1640 Parliament abolished the courts' Yule vacation, so the celebrating moved to the turn of the year. Christmas did not become a Scottish public holiday until the second half of the 20th century, while 1 and 2 January are both holidays. Where the word itself comes from is unclear, with French, Norse and Gaelic theories.
How it's celebrated
Towns hold street parties, ceilidhs, bonfires and fire festivals: Edinburgh's torchlight procession, street party and midnight fireworks over the castle are famous worldwide, and in Stonehaven people swing blazing fireballs through the streets before midnight. At the bells, everyone links arms for Robert Burns's 'Auld Lang Syne'. Then comes first-footing: the first visitor over the threshold after midnight brings the house its luck, traditionally a tall, dark-haired man carrying coal, shortbread, black bun or whisky.
Did you know
- Burns wrote down 'Auld Lang Syne' in 1788 from an older Scots song; the title means roughly 'old times' or 'days gone by'.
- Each first-foot gift carried a wish: coal for warmth, shortbread or black bun so the house would not go hungry, and whisky for good cheer.
- In Japan the tune of 'Auld Lang Syne' became Hotaru no Hikari, 'The Light of the Fireflies', published in a Ministry of Education school songbook in 1881 and still sung at graduations.
The greeting
Happy Hogmanay
Coming up next
- New Year's Day · January 1, 2027
- Public Domain Day · January 1, 2027
- Isaac Asimov's Birthday · January 2, 2027
- Tolkien Birthday Toast · January 3, 2027
- World Braille Day · January 4, 2027
- Hayao Miyazaki's Birthday · January 5, 2027