Kilts are not skirts. Tartan is not a sauce you put on fish. Both are proud, distinctive symbols of a person’s Scottish heritage. (Or just good fashion sense. What can we say? Kilts are cool, much like bowties and fezzes.) The sight of someone dressed in a kilt conjures up the sound of phantom bagpipes. So what do you get when you see a whole parade of folks dressed in their tartan finest? You get the 17th Annual New York Tartan Day Parade! It’s happening on Saturday, April 11 at 2 PM, starting at 6th Avenue at 44th Street!
Great Scot, Look at Those Kilts
This parade is a celebration of fierce Scottish pride, as well as the culmination of more than a week’s worth of events throughout the city. It started out 17 years ago with a few people walking down the sidewalk in their Scottish best. In true New York style, it’s now grown to a full-blown procession along 6th Avenue, from 44th Street to 55th Street!
An exciting array of pipe bands will be marching this year. From Scotland, see the Oban High School Pipe band, and the Lanark and District Pipe Band! New York’s own Volunteer Firefighters Pipe Band will be representing the locals for the first time. Clan members from Scotland, the United States, and even Canada will all show off their colors, as well as dancers and many others!
Leader of the Pack
This year’s Grand Marshal is none other than Graham McTavish. Fans of the Starz program “Outlander” will know him as Dougal MacKenzie. (And fans of “The Hobbit” know him as Dwalin the Dwarf.) Joining him as Honorary Grand Marshal is Rt. Hon. Tricia Marwick, MSP, who is the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament!
Seastreak would like to remind anyone in a kilt that it does get drafty on deck. So head inside the cabin of our comfortable catamarans for a draft-free ride in style!
Sea you soon!
The Seastreak Family
Filed Under: 17th Annual Tartan Day Parade