In Scotland, we do New Year’s Eve a bit differently from the rest of the country. For starters, we call NYE, Hogmanay and as you can probably imagine it is generally the most celebrated night of the year. Believe it or not Christmas Day wasn’t even a public holiday in Scotland until 1958, so for a very long time Hogmanay was the one and only big celebration of the festive period north of the border.
Things have of course changed quite a bit now but some of the NYE traditions still go strong to this day. The most popular of these is called ‘first-footing’ and centres around the first person to enter your house after the bells have struck midnight. Traditionally this person should be a tall, dark, handsome man and he should come with gifts like coal, shortbread and whisky. The arrival of the first-footer is said to bring you and your home good luck for the year ahead so you don’t want to mess this one up!
I’ve just finished working with Johnnie Walker on a little video that celebrates first-footing and the fact that Johnnie Walker Black Label is the ultimate gift to give when you’re honouring this famous Scottish tradition.
Make sure you grab a glass and raise a dram with those who’ll walk with you in 2018. You can watch the video above, let me know what you think on social media.
Happy New Year to you and yours when it comes.
Location: The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh
This is a partnership post with Johnnie Walker.
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