HOGMANAY

HOGMANAY

• Hogmanay means last day of the year in Scottish
• Hogmanay is like our American holiday, New Years
• Hogmanay last from December 30 to January 2

AULD LANG SYNE POEM

• When the clock strikes twelve on Hogmanay eve (Jan.1) party members gather together, hold hands, and start singing a poem called Auld Lang Syne
• On the last verse the of the poem they cross arms and run to the middle of the room all at once
• Auld Lang Syne means times long past
• Auld Lang Syne was written by Robert Burns in 1788

PARADE

• When the Hogmanay celebration starts (Dec.30) there is a huge torch lit parade where most people dress up like Vikings and walk around caring torches lit on fire.

HIGHLAND GAMES

• The Highland Games are events to celebrate the Scottish culture.
• They are held on every weekend from May to September
• Some aspects of the game have become symbolic such as the kilt, the bagpipes, and heavy events, such as the caber toss
• These events take place across the country

Edinburgh Festival (FRINGE)

• The festival occurs in Scotland's capital, Edinburgh in August but the exact date varies from year to year. The festival started in 1947
• The Edinburgh festival is the worlds largest arts festival
• Anyone may participate with any type of act or performance

CONTINUATION...

• The performances are categorized into theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, opera, musicals, music, spoken word, exhibitions, and events
• In 1947 Rudolph Bing invited a select few of the best performers of that time to the Scottish capital Edinburgh
• This formed the Edinburgh international festival

STREET SOCCER

• At the beginning of Hogmanay a game of street soccer starts
• It can start anywhere in Scotland
• It last the throughout Hogmanay

FIRST FOOTING

• After the stroke of midnight, neighbors visit each other, bearing traditional symbolic gifts such as shortbread or black bun, a kind of fruit cake.
• The first person to enter a house in the New Year, the first foot, could bring luck for the New Year
• The luckiest was a tall, dark and handsome man
• The unluckiest ,a red head and the unluckiest of all, a red-headed woman.

SAINING OF THE HOUSE

• This is a very old rural tradition that involved blessing the house and livestock with holy water from a local stream
• Although it had nearly died out, in recent years it has experienced a revival
• After the blessing with water, the woman of the house was supposed to go from room to room with a smouldering juniper branch, filling the house with purifying smoke. Once everyone in the household was coughing and choking from the smoke, the windows would be thrown open

Scottish Independence

• In 2014 Scotland voted to either stay part of the United Kingdom or break away
• The majority vote was 55.30% stay and 44.70% to secede
• Currently they are talking about re-voting for the independence of Scotland

WEBSITES USED

• http://gouk.about.com/od/festivalsandevents/qt/hogmaney.htm
• https://www.edfringe.com/
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_games
• https://www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence