No other country does New Year celebrations with quite as much passion as Scotland, and the Highlands are recognised as the spiritual home of Hogmanay. The perfect place to see out the old year and welcome the new, you‘re assured of a night you’ll remember forever!

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay © VisitScotland / Kenny Lam

Hogmanay is what Scots call New Year's Eve – the big night that marks the arrival of the new year. Its origins reach back to the observance of the winter solstice among the Vikings with wild parties in late December.

Scotland offers a warm welcome to visitors at Hogmanay, as people join together in a spirit of goodwill and companionship to see in the new year. At midnight, sing along with Auld Lang Syne and meet more friends than you ever knew you had!

Perhaps the most famous Hogmanay celebrations take place in Edinburgh each year, as thousands of people converge on Princes Street Gardens for a night of partying, live musical performances and toe-tapping ceilidhs. Excited visitors can revel in the much-loved torchlight procession, which showcases the very best street theatre as well as fire performers, pipe bands and drummers.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay torchlit procession © VisitScotland / Kenny Lam

Travel further afield from Scotland’s friendly capital and you’ll encounter fabulous celebrations across the country, and nowhere more so than the Highlands.

One of many winter fire festivals unique to Scotland, the Stonehaven Fireballs parade in Aberdeenshire is a dramatic spectacle. Watch in awe as a piper leads the procession just before midnight and the participants swing balls of fire above their heads in the ultimate test of skill. Traditionally, this was a cleansing ritual to burn off any bad spirits left from the old year so that the new year can begin clean and purified. The event as it takes place today dates back over a century and draws a large crowd every year.

Stonehaven – home of the Fireballs parade © VisitScotland / Kenny Lam

Locals embrace Grantown-on-Spey’s ‘Hogmanay in the Square’ celebrations with so much gusto that it is now recognised as one of the biggest gatherings in the Highlands for Hogmanay. Famous for its convivial, merry ambience, the streets throng with revellers, dancing and enjoying the ceilidh band music until the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Dufftown in Speyside is known as the 'malt whisky capital of the world' and while most of its New Year celebrations are the same as you would find in small towns and villages all over Scotland, it has its own special twist. After the annual Hogmanay ceilidh at a local hotel, the community gathers in The Square where drams of whisky and pieces of shortbread are shared out to 'see in the bells', courtesy of the local Glenfiddich distillery and Walkers biscuit factory.

Glenfiddich Distillery, Dufftown in Speyside © VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins

By far the largest region in Scotland, the Highlands covers nearly 10,000 square miles in northern Scotland. The region is home to stunning scenery, including the legendary Loch Ness, and ancient settlements such as Inverness, known as the cultural capital of the Highlands. In fact, the city of Inverness is perfect for a family-friendly Hogmanay, as the Hot Highland Fling takes place each year on the banks of the River Ness, with music, fireworks and more.

The River Ness in Inverness © VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins

Of course, for those who enjoy seeing in the New Year in a less frenetic way, Hogmanay in one of the many luxury hotels across the Highlands is hard to beat. Enjoy delicious food and drink and then relax in front of a roaring log fire as a piper pipes in the new year, before raising a glass with your fellow guests. If you’re staying in the mountains, there’s a good chance that snow will be falling outside of the window – perfectly romantic!

If you end up feeling a little delicate on New Year’s Day and need to recharge your batteries, then you couldn’t be in a better place to blow away the cobwebs with a brisk walk in beautiful surroundings - perfect for inspiring those New Year resolutions! The magnificent Cairngorms, for example, are hard to beat for lovers of the great outdoors. If you’re feeling really brave, you might consider joining the usual throng of fancy-dressed dare-devils at Loch Insh for the customary ‘loony dook’ – a dip in the loch to see in the New Year with a splash!

A ‘loony dook’ takes place at Loch Insh on New Year’s Day © VisitScotland / Jakub Iwanicki

For those planning to be in the Highlands in mid-January, then why not head to Burghead in Moray, where they ignore the Gregorian calendar introduced in the 1750s and continue to celebrate 'old Hogmanay' on 11 January instead. Here, they parade the clavie - a wooden barrel filled with wooden staves - through the town before setting it alight on a nearby hill, leaving it to smoulder well into the next day. The origins of the ‘Burning of the Clavie’ are subject to debate, but as it takes place later than the official New Year's Eve, it's the perfect excuse to celebrate twice!

The Vikings of Up Helly Aa © VisitScotland / Kenny Lam

Whilst not a Hogmanay celebration in itself, Up Helly Aa, which takes place on the last Tuesday in January, traditionally marked the end of the yuletide festivities in the Shetland Islands. An exhilarating experience for visitors, Up Helly Aa sees a spectacular procession of costumed participants parade through the town of Lerwick, culminating in the burning of an imitation Viking longship, highlighting the strong Viking links this part of Scotland once had.

And of course, no visit to Scotland at the end of January would be complete without attending a Burns Night supper on the 25th of the month – an annual celebration of Scotland’s most famous poet. Enjoy a hearty  meal which includes haggis, neeps and tatties, rounded off with drams of whisky, as Burns’ poems and songs are recited and tributes are paid to the great Bard. A truly unique Scottish experience!

A traditional Burns Night supper © VisitScotland / Luigi Di Pasquale

If you or your group would like to enjoy a tailor-made tour of the Highlands of Scotland at Hogmanay or in January, please do contact our friendly team today. We can arrange the finest places to stay, sumptuous meals, fabulous entertainment and activities for all the family, as well as taking care of all your transport needs from the minute you step off the plane.