Scotland is the home of Hogmanay, otherwise known as New Year’s Eve, and Edinburgh is the best place to celebrate it. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is now a four-day extraganza (29 Dec- 1 Jan), with street parties, live music, ceilidh dancing, marching bands, processions and street theatre. Some 100,000 passes are offered on a ballot basis for the city’s celebrations on the night itself. But if you can’t get hold of one, there is still plenty of fun to be had on the streets outside the cordon and you can see the amazing Seven Hills fireworks display from many vantage points. For information and passes, see www.edinburghshogmanay.org.

Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns, Scotland’s unofficial poet laureate, was born on 25 January 1759. It is the custom of Scots the world over to gather on this date, consume haggis, neeps and tatties, sup whisky and recite Burns’s poems. Meanwhile theatres and bookshops play host to readings of his work. See www.rabbie-burns.com for information on events.