Festival swineherd always observed (8)
I believe the answer is:
hogmanay
'festival' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'swineherd always observed' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'always' could be 'ay' (archaic term for 'always') and 'ay' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hogmanay that I've seen before include "New Year's Eve (Scots)" , "New Year's Eve in Glasgow" , "Scottish celebration framed in mahogany" , "Festival" , "Annual celebration" .)