New Year is celebrated all over the world, but no-one does a Hogmanay Party like the Scots!  Edinburgh’s celebrations are probably the best known, and the Edinburgh Street Party attracts thousands of revellers every year to ring in the bells on Princes Street.  Against the magical backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, fireworks light up the sky – there can be no better start to the New Year!  Other Scottish cities including Glasgow and Inverness also hold street parties.  At Scottish Highland Trails we can arrange your Scottish New Year package, either as a short break or as part of a longer tour.  Whether you want to be part of the big Hogmanay party in Edinburgh, or if you see yourself bringing in the New Year whilst sitting by a roaring log fire, quaffing malt whisky in a remote Scottish castle, we can create a tour package to suit.  Please contact us for all your Scottish New Year vacation requirements.
 
The roots of the Scottish New Year celebrations lie with the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.  Christmas was decried by the Kirk as a Catholic feast day, and the people of Scotland were discouraged from celebrating Christmas.  Indeed, right up until the 1950s, Christmas Day in Scotland was not a holiday, but New Year was – and the Scots certainly made the most of it!
 
For auld lang syne my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne
 
Sung the world over, and attributed to the great Scottish poet Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne is traditionally sung at New Year.  But the question most people ask is “what on earth does it mean?!”
 
Literally translated, auld lang syne means “old long ago”.  The “cup of kindness” referred to in the song is a drink shared among friends, so the song is an invitation to have a toast to the good old days and to your friends, new and old.  Sounds like a good idea – slainte!  (Cheers!)