Origins in Canada

On the 9th of March in 1986, during a meeting of the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia, Canadian-Scots Bill Crowel and Jean MacKeracher-Watson proposed a new way to celebrate their Scottish Heritage! They suggested ‘Tartan Day’ - an event they used to revel in their Scots Roots as a large group!

The very first Tartan Day was celebrated on the 6th of April in 1987 and has continued to be held on (or around) that date.

Year after year, this tradition has spread and gained popularity to the point of being adopted by many different Canadian provinces and territories. This continued until the Canadian government officially recognised it as a national event in October 2010 and the very first official event was held in 2011.

The celebrations of Canadian Tartan Day involve dancing, drums and pipes all hosted by the Sons of Scotland Pipeband, Canada’s oldest Pipeband at Parliament Hill. 2023 was the 15th year that the Pipeband has hosted the event.

To The United States

From observing many Tartan Day festivities in Canada, a group of American-Scots from the Scottish Heritage Organisation (chaired by John H.Napier III) proposed that they bring Tartan Day to the United States, to unanimous agreement with all attendees present.

In order to promote the first (yet unofficial) US Tartan Day, many advertisements were placed in heritage and genealogy publications. It clearly worked as Tartan Day in the US has only increased in popularity!

From the very first Tartan Day in the US, it was held each and every year as an unofficial holiday by all who celebrated it until President George W.Bush signed a presidential proclamation on the 4th of April 2008, declaring that the US Tartan DAy would be celebrated as a national holiday annually on the 6th of April.

But, easily, the biggest celebration of the US National Tartan is The New York City Tartan Week!

New York City Tartan Week

The very first New York City Tartan Day held in 1999 was nowhere near the size it would eventually grow to! It consisted of simply two pipebands and a “small but enthusiastic group of Scottish Americans’” who walked through the streets of New York City. However the size of the event rapidly grew until, in 2002, it was almost unrecognisable as the same event!

The 2002 parade featured the brand new National Tartan Day New York committee, over 8000 pipers and drummers who marched through the streets of New York City, and were led by then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and famed Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery!

Now the parade is a grand affair featuring pipebands, members from clan societies, Highland Games organisers, Scottish-American societies, the New York Mounted Police, alumni clubs of Scottish Universities and even members of Scotland’s tourism board VisitScotland! As well as this, the parade has a new Grand Marshall everytime, often a Scottish celebrity (this was actress Gail Porter in 2023!) This celebrates Scots achievements on a grander scale and brings forth pieces of our culture to another group of people who want to basque in it!

This event draws tens of thousands of attendees to celebrate the deep rooted Scottish ancestry present within the United States, all of which makes it one of the city’s larger parade events. It has evolved so much that it is no longer just a day, but an entire week of tartan!

The week begins with the originally named ‘Tartan Day’ while the annual parade is held on the Saturday of week in question.

The rest of New York Tartan Week features many activities. From pipeband competitions, Ceilidhs and even exhibitions of Scottish dog breeds, the events have many celebrations of Scottish heritage! The week even has a fashion show and charity ball called ‘Dressed to Kilt’ organsised by Friends of Scotland, which features tartaned and kilted celebrities!

So we know that Tartan Day is becoming a larger holiday in North America and many other countries, but is it celebrated in Scotland?

Celebrations in Scotland

While it is not as widely celebrated in Scotland, it is very popular in the Scottish region of Angus. They established the very first Tartan Day on the 6th of April in 2004. Much like New York, the simple Tartan Day has evolved into an entire Tartan Week!

This week in Angus features masny different events that can appeal to everyone! There are formal events like local art exhibitions and dinners, mediaeval reenactments, a gathering of the clans and literary events to less formal competitions and tournaments!

In 2016, Aberdeen City hosted a charity Walkathon in celebration of Tartan Day, dubbed the Kiltwalk, which has since spread to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee!