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The annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Edinburgh, Scotland is famous for being one of the most elaborate New Year’s festivals in the world. It takes place over three or four days each year and in the mid-1990s, it set a Guinness Book of Records attendance record with 400,000 people. The 2019-2020 party promises to be just as lively as always, so here’s what you need to know about watching the Edinburgh fireworks to celebrate “Hogmanay.”
The 2019-2020 fireworks event is headlined by Grammy and Oscar winner Mark Ronson, plus Rudimental DJ and Mungo’s Hi Fi. The “Mark Ronson’s Hogmanay in the Gardens” party kicks off at 8:30 p.m. local time and culminates in a beautiful fireworks display over Edinburgh Castle at midnight. Live stream embedded below.
The other big New Year’s Eve event in Edinburgh is “Ceilidh Under the Castle,” which is a huge dance party featuring three ceilidh bands: Sleekit Beaties, Skyte!, and Cool Ceol Ceilidh Band. The Gaelic word “ceilidh” means a social event where there is Scottish or Irish folk music and singing and traditional dancing. The official New Year’s ceilidh promises attendees can “Whirl or jig, fling or be flung under the watchful eye of Edinburgh Castle … dance in the New Year with a full ceilidh band and plenty of local food and drink to keep you spinning all night.”
For those who can’t attend the garden party or the ceilidh, there’s a street party featuring some of the hottest U.K. artists today. Then the official after-party begins at 1 a.m. local time, with a set from DJ Judge Jules at McEwan Hall.
New Year’s Eve marks the end of a calendar year on the Gregorian calendar, the calendar first introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it is named. Most countries celebrate the final day the year with parties, social gatherings, festivals, and/or fireworks. It goes by many names the world over, including Hogmanay in Scotland, Calennig in Wales, Baharu in Indonesia and Malaysia, Silvester in many European countries, Reveillon in France, Portugal, and Brazil, Kanun Novodgo Goda in Russia, and Omisoka in Japan.
Kiritimati, Tonga, and New Zealand are some of the first places to celebrate New Year’s Eve because they are located just west of the International Date Line, while the U.S.’ Baker Island is one of the last places to celebrate because it is just east of the International Date Line. Interestingly, because of the way the International Date Line jogs around a bit, Kiritimati is actually east of Baker Island.
In the United States, New Year’s is traditionally celebrated with parties and “drops,” the most famous of which is the ball drop held in New York City’s Times Square. But there are dozens of other “drops” held across the country, including a conch drop in Key West, Florida; a peach drop in Atlanta; an Indy car drop in Indianapolis; an acorn drop in Raleigh, North Carolina; a moon pie drop in Mobile, Alabama; a fleur-de-lis drop in New Orleans, a “Glowtato” drop in Boise, Idaho; and a tortilla chip drop in Tempe, Arizona, which is tied in to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game of college football.
New York also rings in the new year with a “Midnight Run” around Central Park that includes a fireworks show. Other fireworks displays around the country include shows at the Disney theme parks, the Las Vegas strip, and the Chicago “Chi-Town Rising” event.
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