New York: Tartan Day Parade, 4 April 2009

The New York Tartan Day Parade is a tribute that the United States pay to its inhabitants of Scottish descent (between 20 and 25 millions people, according to estimations), who played a main role in the building and the developing of the country. Scottish people, who began to migrate to the United States at the beginning of the 17th century, made a huge contribution to their new country: many outstanding figures in the fields of science, medicine, politics, economy, literature and art are Scottish-American, and almost half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish Descent. Moreover the American Declaration of Independence took inspiration from the Declaration of Arbroath of the 6th of April 1320, which had declared the independence of Scotland from England.

The 6th of April was then chosen to celebrate Scottish culture and history, and every year since 1998, when the United States officially proclaimed the 6th of April Tartan Day, New York hosts, for a week, several interesting events. The parade, which this year will take place on the 4th of April, is one of the most appreciated happenings, and the number of people taking part in it is ever-growing: thousands of pipers, drummers and bands coming from all over the world travel to New York and parade from the 45th to the 58th street. This year, for the first time, the Jim Campbell Memorial Tartan Day Award (Jim Campbell was one of the founders of the association that organises the event) will be bestowed to the best musical performance and to the best presentation. Watching the parade is very amusing, and every year many visitors book a cheap hotel in New York in these days and enjoy the event, which gives them the possibility to admire the traditional costumes and to listen to Scottish music. After the parade many visitors take part in the party featuring live music that takes place every year and that ends late at night, ending the day in the best way.

If your stay in New York lasts some days more, you can take part in many other events that are held before and after the parade: the Dressed to Kilt fashion show (30th of March), the most prestigious Scottish fashion event in the world, featuring celebrities taking to the catwalks for charity, the performance of the Really Terrible Orchestra & Alexander McCall Smith (1st of April), the exclusive Tartan Ball (2nd of April) and the Ceilidh, a pre-parade party (ceilidh is the Gaelic word for singing, feasting, dancing and good-time), which takes place on the 3rd of April featuring dances, music and Scottish food and drinks.

Date: 4th April 2009
Location: New York, United States