The Scottish New Year's Eve custom of visiting homes with gifts and good wishes is called first-footing. It traditionally begins after midnight, when the first person to enter a household in the new year is believed to influence the household's luck.
A traditional first-footer may bring symbolic gifts such as coal for warmth, bread for food, salt, a silver coin for prosperity, or whisky for hospitality. In some versions of the custom, a tall, dark-haired man is considered especially lucky as the first visitor, although modern practice is much less rigid and varies between families and regions.
The visitor normally enters through the front door and leaves through another exit, reflecting older ideas about bringing fortune into the home. First-footing is associated with Hogmanay, Scotland's New Year's festival, but it is a household custom rather than the name of a street party.
The word is sometimes confused with “first footing” in a literal walking sense. In Scottish tradition, it specifically describes the first guest or the act of making that visit after the new year begins.