Venue
City Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Edinburgh's Hogmanay guide
Four nights of fire under Edinburgh Castle.
In short
Hogmanay suits travellers who want to see out the year with a torchlight procession, concerts and fireworks in Scotland's capital. It usually runs from 29 December to 1 January. Events are sold night by night, with no single pass, so choose which evenings you want first, then secure a bed as early as you can.
Hogmanay is how Scotland says goodbye to the old year, and the capital does it with four days of fire, music and fireworks under the castle. It is the best-known party of its kind in the country, a mix of big ticketed concerts in the city centre and older customs that families still keep at home.
The draw is the setting as much as the line-up. Tens of thousands stand in one street with the floodlit castle rock above them, and at midnight the whole city turns to face it. Few places let you sing the most famous farewell song in the language in the country that wrote it, with a pipe band somewhere in earshot.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Venue: Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens
Held: Every year
Type of event: Party Events, Cultural Events, Winter Festivals
Currency: Pound sterling (£ GBP)
Time zone: GMT (UTC+0), BST (UTC+1) from late March to late October
Language: English
Map
Close to the venue
- Edinburgh Castle Attraction · 180 m
- The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel Hotel · 780 m
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Dressing for hours outdoors on a Scottish winter night
Every big Hogmanay event is outdoors and standing, often for four hours or more, in a Scottish winter night. Dress for standing still in the cold.
- Wear several warm layers under a waterproof jacket with a hood. Umbrellas are banned at every event, so the hood does the work.
- Choose boots with a good grip. Old Town streets are paved with setts and closes that turn slick in rain or frost.
- Gloves, a hat and a scarf matter more than anything stylish. Hand warmers take up no room.
- Eat a proper meal before you go in. Street food is sold inside the Street Party, but a cold night on an empty stomach is a long one.
Items refused at the Hogmanay entrances
Stewards search bags and clothing at every gate, and the list of refused items is long. Leave these at the hotel:
- anything made of glass, plus metal or hard plastic bottles, perfume included
- umbrellas, chairs and anything sharp
- professional cameras and drones (a camera that fits in a pocket is fine, and so is a selfie stick)
- smoke canisters and flares
- dogs, unless it is an assistance dog cleared with the organisers in advance
Bags must be no bigger than A3. A small cross-body bag gets through the search fastest and keeps your phone and ticket close.
Getting through queues and closures on 31 December
Security checks and road closures slow everyone down, so set off earlier than feels necessary on the 31st. The queues at the gates build steadily through the evening, and people who leave it late can end up hearing the countdown from the wrong side of the fence.
Once you are in, stay in. The Street Party and Hogmanay in the Gardens both have a strict no-readmission rule: step out for any reason and your night is over. Agree a meeting point with your group before you enter, somewhere fixed such as a named stage or screen, because calling around to find friends in a crowd this size rarely works.
Keep valuables in an inside pocket, pace the drinking, and watch your footing when the crowd surges at midnight. If someone in your party needs step-free or accessible viewing, the spaces are limited and have to be reserved early through customer service. A free companion ticket covers the person who helps them.
What happens on the day
- 29 December, 18:30
Torchlight Procession
Torch bearers set off from the Meadows with pipe bands, drummers and fire performers and wind north through the Old Town.
- 30 December, 18:00
The Night Afore
A ticketed concert on the Ross Bandstand stage in Princes Street Gardens; The Fratellis headline in 2026.
- 31 December, 20:00
Street Party and Hogmanay in the Gardens
Stages, DJs and giant screens on Princes Street, with Underworld playing the Gardens concert below the castle.
- Midnight
The Bells
Fireworks burst over the castle, and the whole crowd links arms for Auld Lang Syne.
- 1 January
First Footin'
A free trail of live music in venues around the centre, no ticket needed.
Picking which Hogmanay events to buy and where to stay
Edinburgh sells its New Year night by night, not as one pass. The Torchlight Procession, the Night Afore, the Street Party and Hogmanay in the Gardens each carry a separate ticket, so the first decision is how many evenings you want outdoors. A first visit usually pairs the torches on the 29th with the Street Party on the 31st. Music fans who would rather watch a band than roam between stages tend to swap the street for the Gardens concert, which runs to the same midnight.
Book the room before the tickets. Central hotels are often full months ahead for this week. The Old Town and the New Town are the two districts worth paying extra for, because both leave Princes Street a few minutes away on foot and spare you the hunt for a taxi among thousands after the bells. Further out, a bed near a tram stop is the next best thing.
Weather is the one part you cannot book around. Gales stopped most of the programme in 2003 and again in 2006, and wind and rain cost the city its outdoor events on 31 December 2024. Keep a spare evening and read the festival's updates each afternoon. To build the rest of a winter trip, start with our United Kingdom travel pages.
Where Hogmanay customs come from, including first-footing
Where the word Hogmanay comes from is anybody's guess, with Gaelic and Norman French both put forward. In Scots it simply names the last night of the year, and for centuries it mattered more than Christmas here. Midnight is called the Bells. The moment they strike, people link arms for Robert Burns's Auld Lang Syne, and then first-footing begins. The first visitor over a threshold after midnight brings luck, traditionally carrying whisky, a lump of coal or black bun, a dense fruit cake baked in pastry.
The organised festival is younger than it looks. Edinburgh's crowds once gathered informally around the Tron Kirk on the High Street, and in 1993 the party went official and moved down to Princes Street. For the 1996/97 night, crowd estimates run between 300,000 and roughly 400,000, and Guinness recorded it as the world's biggest New Year party. Crowd limits and ticketing followed, which is why the street now holds a fixed number.
The first morning of January has its own oddity. The Loony Dook sends people splashing into the freezing Firth of Forth, a habit traced to soldiers home from the Second World War who wanted to wash the war away.
Getting there
Flying in
Edinburgh Airport is close to the city. The Airlink 100 bus reaches Waverley Bridge in about 30 minutes on average, and trams also run into the centre. Long-haul travellers often connect through London Heathrow.
By train
Edinburgh Waverley sits in the valley right beside Princes Street Gardens, so rail arrivals step off at the edge of the festival.
On the big nights
Princes Street is closed and fenced on 31 December, and road closures make driving pointless. Walk, and use the Mound to cross between the Old Town and Princes Street.
To the procession
The torch march starts on the Meadows, a short walk south of the university quarter.
Where to stay during the festival
The hotel below, in Edinburgh itself, is the nearest one we list to Edinburgh's Hogmanay. The next date is 29 December 2026. Book as soon as your dates are fixed, since rooms close to the festival are the first to go.
Edinburgh
The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$500.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
4 Rooms available
Book Now
Weather and what to pack
Hogmanay falls in Edinburgh's darkest, coldest weeks. December and January both average a daytime high of about 7°C and a night-time low under 2°C, with around 65 mm of rain spread over twelve wet days a month (1991-2020 normals, Royal Botanic Garden station).
Wind is the real risk: gales stopped most of the programme in 2003 and 2006, and wind and rain cancelled the outdoor events on 31 December 2024.
Worth packing
- A warm, windproof coat for hours standing outdoors
- Waterproof boots for wet cobbles
- Hat, scarf and gloves
- Photo ID matching the name on your ticket
- A small bag only, since bags are searched at the gates
Car hire in Edinburgh
Airport transfer to Edinburgh's Hogmanay
Met at arrivals at Edinburgh Airport (EDI) and driven door to door to Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens.
- Edinburgh Airport (EDI) → Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens
- 16 km · 25 min
Restaurants and food in United Kingdom
Places to eat in United Kingdom before or after the celebrations.
Magpie Café
14 Pier Road, Whitby YO21 3PU, United Kingdom
Cuisine:SeafoodFish and chips
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Ubiquitous Chip
12 Ashton Lane, Glasgow G12 8SJ, United Kingdom
Cuisine:ScottishModern British
- Dine-in
- Bar
The Kitchin
78 Commercial Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6LX, United Kingdom
Cuisine:Modern ScottishSeasonal
- Dine-in
Dishoom Covent Garden
12 Upper St Martin's Lane, London WC2H 9FB, United Kingdom
Cuisine:IndianBombay café
- Dine-in
- Bar
- Outdoor seating
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
The street party and both concerts below the castle are for ages 12 and up. A child under 16 needs a full-price ticket and must be with an adult aged over 18. Younger children are better suited to the torch march or the daytime family events.
On the street, yes, within limits: cans or plastic containers of up to 500ml, no more than 4 per person, and pay bars are open inside. The two concerts in the gardens allow no outside alcohol at all.
First Footin' on New Year's Day costs nothing and needs no ticket. It is a trail of live gigs in venues around the centre, and it is fast catching on with locals as the gentlest way into January.
The festival is created and produced by the events company Unique Assembly for the city. Its website carries the programme, the ticket links and the weather updates posted over all four days.
Prices & payment
Tickets start from £10, and a 50p charity donation is added to each one. Buy only from the festival's own site, Ticketmaster or Tickets Scotland. Tickets offered on Eventbrite or resale sites are not valid and can be cancelled.
Cancellations & changes
If an event is called off, you are refunded up to the face value of the ticket. Booking fees are not returned. The festival sells separate ticket insurance on its website for anyone who wants extra cover.
Booking
Yes, as a gift, but not for money. You need a signed letter of authority naming both of you, the event and the tickets, and stating that they are a gift. Your friend brings that letter and matching photo ID to the gate.
The box offices of Edinburgh's Christmas sell them, opening on 14 November. Everything else is online. All 2026/27 tickets are e-tickets sent by email, so check your spam folder if the confirmation does not appear.
Wait 48 hours from booking, then email the festival team with your booking reference. The tickets go to the address you entered at checkout, so a mistyped email is the usual culprit.
Families & accessibility
The procession is one of the family-friendly parts of the programme, and it is ticketed. By mid October 2026 tickets for the 29 December march were already on sale, so there is no reason to wait.
Yes, with planning. Accessible viewing areas exist but hold few people, so contact customer service as early as you can to reserve a place. Crowd staff posted near those areas help guests out safely if people have to be moved.