Happy Hogmanay, Happy Hogman-eh, Happy New Year et Bonne Année 2023!

The Scottish word for New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay, refers to the ancient Norse festival of Yule, celebrated at the turn of the year.

Today, the New Year’s eve party in Edinburgh, is one of the grandest, most spectacular, and most extravagant street festivals on earth.

In Glasgow, the partying starts early, on the stroke of midnight, when the city erupts with a pyrotechnic display of fireworks.

New Year’s Eve celebration Hogman-eh! is the largest outside of Scotland, as well as the largest Hogmanay celebration in Eastern Ontario.

A two-month celebration of Scottish culture, OttScot is the flagship event of the Scottish Society of Ottawa’s OttScot Festival, which includes St. Andrew’s Day celebrations, Hogman-eh!, Robbie Burns celebrations and the Great Canadian Kilt Skate.

Approximately fifteen percent of Canadians are descended from the Scottish people.

Arrival of Scottish Settlers, Pictou, Nova Scotia

Early settlers in Eastern Canada include families from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, St. Andrews, Stirling, and other towns throughout Scotland.

They built thriving communities in areas named after their native lands, such as Glengary, Perth, Renfrew, and others.

Today, there are an estimated two million Scots living in North America. Of these, approximately one million live in the United States, with another million living in Canada and a million or so scattered throughout the rest of the world. Indeed, the Canadian city of Montreal, Quebec, boasts the largest concentration of people of full-blooded Scot descent in the world.

Glengarry Highland Games – Ontario, Canada

In the National Capital region, it is estimated that twenty percent of the communities are founded upon the names of cities, towns and villages within Scotland, and another ten percent are based on surnames.

The earliest known reference to Saint Andrews Day celebrations in Ottawa dates back to the year 1838.

Each year, thousands of visitors come to the nation’s capital to celebrate this unique holiday. Created in the early 19th century, this tradition continues today.

The Scottish Society of Ottawa held its very first event on New Year’s Eve of 2012.

It was a New Year’s Street Party, held at Ottawa city hall. The event replicated the excitement experienced in Edinburgh, Scotland, when time strikes twelve, marking the transition into the new year.

It is a combination of traditional and modern music and dance, along with tastings, all accompanied by great food and drinks. It has become an Ottawa tradition, drawing crowds of up to seven thousand, of all ages, from all different backgrounds.

LIVE STREAMING – SATURDAY NIGHT ON YOUTUBE

✨ Getting ready to participate, along with all our Scotttish friends worldwide, to the many attractions celebrating 2023’s arrival 🎈🎈

Our team wishes our readers, friends, and fans of Scotland a very happy new year!

I hope that our Scottish adventures spur you on to travel and walk on La Belle Alba’s wonderful paths.

Janice, Mairiuna, Jean-Claude, Iain, Margaret.