New York City Tartan Week - The Story Behind the Celebration

Tartan Day first originated in Canada after the president of Clan Lamont proposed that there should be a day where Scottish heritage could be widely celebrated, and so it was decided that April 6 would be national Tartan Day. In 1998 the US senate first declared National Tartan Day to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the United States. In the lead up to the announcement the Senate realised that almost half of the signatures on the United States Declaration of Independence had Scottish descent. A decade later in 2008, President George W. Bush signed a Presidential Proclamation making April 6 National Tartan Day. Tartan Day has been celebrated in the USA every year since. The most popular celebration is the parade that is held in New York every year, with people travelling from all over the world to attend. The parade has become so popular that it has grown into a week of Scottish celebrations, which is known as Tartan Week.

The 6th of April was chosen as this is the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. The declaration announced Scotland's independence from England and it's said that this inspired the United States Declaration of Independence many years later.

National Tartan Day is celebrated not only in the US, but also in Canada, Scotland and even Argentina. Australia and New Zealand do also celebrate an International Tartan Day but they actually celebrate this on the 1st July. This is another important date in Scottish history as the anniversary of the Repeal Proclamation of 1782 which abolished the Act of Proscription of 1747. The Act of Proscription declared wearing kilts and tartan a punishable offence and if caught Scots could face up to seven years of transportation.

There are many Tartan Day celebrations throughout the United States, but New York certainly leads the way, not only holding an annual Tartan Day Parade, but a full week of celebratory events. Activities for the week, kick off on 10th of April with a Scottish Ceilidh dance workshop, followed by Cocktail Evening, Gaelic workshops, Pipes & Drums Performance, Pre-Parade Ceilidh, Kirkin O' The Tartan and many other family friendly activities. Each event is held by various Scottish charities and societies, hoping to give participants a true representation of Scottish culture and honour the special friendship that the USA has with Scotland.

The first parade was set up in 1999 by two pipe bands along side a small but enthusiastic group of Scottish Americans. Led by their Grand Marshal, Academy Award-winning Actor Cliff Robertson the group marched from the British Consulate to the United Nations Headquarters.

Following on from the first parade, the event has continued to grown and now includes hundreds of pipers as well as thousands of marchers and spectators. With so many activities surrounding the parade The National Tartan Day New York Committee was formed in 2002 to organise the parade and the now week long list of fabulous Scottish themed events. Many of the groups marching are Clan associations and in 2018, Clan Davidson took the title of the most represented Clan followed by Clan Colquhoun in 2019.

Every year (with the exception of a wee break from 2000-2004 and 2021) a Grand Marshal is selected to lead the Parade, including actors, members of Scottish Parliament, singers, designers and even sports stars. In 2019, KT Tunstall was the first female to be appointed and her outfit went down a storm. We've listed the full list of previous Grand Marshals below.

• 1999 - Cliff Robertson (Academy Award-winning Actor)
• 2002 - Sir Sean Connery (Academy Award-winning Actor)
• 2005 - Randall Wallace (Academy Award-nominated Screenwriter of “Braveheart”)
• 2006 - Brigadier Melville Jameson (Producer, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo)
• 2007 - Rt.Hon. George Reid (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament)
• 2008 - Lawrence Tynes (American Footballer from the New York Giants)
• 2009 - Alan Cumming, OBE (Tony Award-winning Actor)
• 2010 - Rt. Hon. Sir Alex Fergusson (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament)
• 2011 - Rt. Hon. Bob Winter (Lord Provost of Glasgow)
• 2012 - Brian Cox, CBE (Actor)
• 2013 - Kevin McKidd (Actor and Director)
• 2014 - Howie Nicholsby (Kilt Designer)
• 2015 - Graham McTavish (Actor) & Tricia Marwick (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament)
• 2016 - Sam Heughan (Actor)
• 2017 - Tommy Flanagan (Actor)
• 2018 - KT Tunstall (Musician)
• 2019 - Sir Billy Connolly (Comedian, Actor & Musician)
• 2020 - Brian Cox, CBE (Actor)
• 2022 - Karen Gillan (Actress)
• 2023 - Gail Porter (TV Presenter)
• 2024 - Dougray Scott (Emmy Award-winning Actor)

The very first year ScotlandShop participated in the Parade was the year The Big Yin, Sir William Connolly was Grand Marshal. Sir Billy moved to the US in 2011 and announced his retirement from live performances in December. Sir Billy first started performing as part of the Folk Rock Band, the Humblebums and was a member of the band until 1974. In the early 70's he also launched both his solo artist and comedic careers. Sir Billy is best known as a comedian but has also had many successful acting roles. His nickname The Big Yin was first used during his adolescent years to differentiate between himself and his father.

Despite recently retiring he has graciously accepted the role of Grand Marshal.

We are huge fans of the gritty Scot leading the Parade in 2023, a student of Portobello High School just outside Edinburgh before starting her career in media and TV. If you don't already know her, Gail Porter is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress renowned for her honesty about the ups and downs of her career, which began in children's TV, before she progressed into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. Since 2005, Porter has been affected by alopecia, a condition which causes hair loss and in true, bold Gail style she decided not to wear a hat or wig in order to raise awareness of the condition. She became ambassador for the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides wigs to children with hair loss.

We are excited the Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor, Dougray Scott, will be 2024's Grand Marshal. Dougray is known for starring in Mission: Impossible 2 opposite Tom Cruise, Ever After with Dew Barrymore, Deep Impact with Robert Duvall, and many TV series like Desperate Housewives, and more recently, BBC's Vigil.

For his role in the series Crime, he was awarded both a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor - Television, and an Emmy for Best Performance by an Actor in 2022.

Did you know Dougray was called Most Promising Student when he trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama? We think he has delivered on that name!

To honour his mother's Scottish heritage, Dougray will be wearing a 16oz custom weathered Strome kilt in his mother's clan tartan, Morrison.

Image source: By Ian Smith from London, England - Dougray Scott, CC BY-SA 2.0

2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the New York Tartan Day Parade and we were delighted to take part in the parade on Saturday 15th of April and will do so again this year on 6th April. If you would like to march with us as we stride down Sixth Avenue, we would love for you to join us! We are very proud to be the official sponsors of the Dog Pack at Tartan Week for the next 3 years, celebrating the Celtic Canines parading and providing a best dressed dog award for the three groups including the Wee Highland Warriors (terriers), Highland Herders (collies) and Hebridean Hunting Hounds.

Whilst in New York we are also hosting a Pop Up Store and measuring service on the 4th & 5th of April at The New Yorker Hotel, 481 8th Ave, New York, NY 10001. You can book an appointment to be measured using our online system and we also offer a Tartan Consultation service if you would like to have dedicated time with a member of the team to find your family or clan tartan. On parade day (6th April) you can find us on 6th Avenue and West 45th street, at the Tartan Parade registration where we will be selling merchandise for the parade.