At Edinburgh's Hogmanay New Year's Eve celebration, the first visitor entering a home after midnight is traditionally called the first-foot.
First-footing is a Scottish New Year custom in which the first person to cross a household's threshold after midnight is believed to influence the household's luck for the year ahead. The visitor commonly brings symbolic gifts such as shortbread, whisky, coal, salt, or black bun. These gifts represent hospitality, warmth, prosperity, and food.
In older versions of the custom, a tall, dark-haired man was often considered a particularly lucky first-foot. The details vary by region and household, and modern celebrations are generally less strict about the visitor's appearance. The important idea is the first arrival and the goodwill carried into the home.
Hogmanay is Scotland's widely used word for New Year's celebrations. Edinburgh's public festivities include concerts, street events, and a torchlight procession, but first-footing remains a separate household tradition rather than the name of a parade.