Tartan Day 2010 Celebrations Fling Into Action!
Issued: 6 April 2010
Tartan Day 2010 started with a riot of tartan at Montrose Town Hall on Friday night with The Kilt Is Our Delight, a highly-enjoyable evening of Scottish dance, music, poetry and song by the Gordon School of Dance and special guests.
"The concert was superb," said Robina Addison of the Gordon School of Dance. "There was a very good turnout, with lots of very favourable after-show comments. Several members of the audience mentioned to me that, as well as the excellent Scottish entertainment, it was wonderful to see all the colours of the tartans. At one point, there were 65 kilts on stage – all made from different tartans."
Other highlights of the Tartan Day launch weekend included a medieval knight making a special appearance at Glamis Castle, the Tartan Day Highland Dancing Competition and the Tartan Day Litter Pick Up.
"On Sunday, we did our bit to tidy up our part of Scotland," said Jeanette Gaul of Forfar Area Partnership, which is holding a ceilidh at the Plough Inn on Saturday evening. "In only 40 minutes, we managed to fill 11 large bags with litter that had been strewn around Beechhill Wood. Unfortunately, heavy rain brought our tidy up to an earlier-than-intended end but we still managed to make a difference."
The Tartan Day celebrations are an Angus Council tourism and community initiative. The Angus celebrations now extend to a week, from April 2 until April 10, with over 50 events taking place across the county. "Tartan Day is celebrated all over the world and, in Scotland, Angus leads the way with its week of festivities and special events," said the Provost of Angus, Ruth Leslie Melville. "It's wonderful to hear of such a great start to Tartan Day Angus 2010."
To find out about all the events taking place across Angus during Tartan Day Scotland, which is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, the Tartan Day events guide can be downloaded from www.tartandayscotland.com. The Tartan Day Events Guide is also available from accommodation providers and visitor attractions in Angus, Dundee, Perth and Aberdeenshire and at museums, libraries and Access offices in Angus.
Tartan Day was pioneered in Canada but gained renewed momentum in the United States following resolutions in Congress and Senate recognising April 6, the date of the signing of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, as a day to celebrate Scotland. Tartan Day Scotland – a week-long programme of events - was first promoted by Angus Council under the Angus Ahead banner in 2004 to showcase the best of Scotland's creativity, heritage, innovation and business success to the world.
Angus Ahead is the area marketing campaign set up to raise the profile of the county locally, nationally and internationally. Further information from Merlyn Dunn in the economic development team, T: 01307 473227 / E: dunnm@angus.gov.uk.
Dancers at the Tartan Day Highland Dancing Competition.
