Highlighting Tartan Day and Tartan Week 2025

Tartan Day, which falls on April 6th of each year, and Tartan Week, which surrounds it, are two wonderful exhibitions of Scottish culture and history. Here’s how to make the most of them!

What Is Tartan Day?
Tartan Day is April 6th of each year, which commemorates the 1320 signing of the Declaration of Arbroath at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.

For more than 20 years leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, England, first under Edward I and then under his sons, waged a war of conquest against Scotland which up to that point had been a single kingdom for far longer than the Kingdom of England.

The Declaration of Arbroath was a petition to Pope John XXII, seeking him, as leader of the church, to call England from her wars on Scotland, as a fellow Christian country. The Declaration not only rejected the idea of Edward as Scotland’s king, but established unanimous democratic support for Robert the Bruce as King of the Scots.

This declaration went on to strongly influence the American Declaration of Independence, and many of the signers of that pivotal document were in fact of Scottish descent. Fun fact: 9 of the 13 governors of the original United States were Scots!

The modern observation is called Tartan Day in honor of tartan (often called plaid in North America) the woven woollen fabric from which kilts and other elements of Highland Dress are made.

While it is a celebration chiefly observed by those of Scottish ancestry, anyone can join the festivities. Here are just a few ways to do that!

How to Celebrate Tartan Day (and Tartan Week)
There are many great ways to celebrate Tartan Day. One of them is to visit New York City, where Tartan Day is extended into a week-long celebration of parades and other celebrations known as Tartan Week.

This year, the highlight of Tartan Week will be on April 5th with the NYC Tartan Day Parade, and we are proud to be official sponsors of the parade! (Join us before the parade in front of Algonquin Hall where we will be distributing samples of our world famous all-butter shortbread!)

The 2025 Tartan Day Parade Grand Marshal will be Alan Cumming, and the parade starts at 2 PM on West 44th Street. It will proceed up 6th Avenue to 55th Street. Join the celebration for a demonstration of live pipes, highland dancing, and Scottish pride!

We’re sponsoring the American-Scottish Foundation’s Tartan Day Observance in Bryant Park on Friday, April 4th, which will feature a presentation from Kenneth Donnelly as well as performances by piper Craig Wier and the Highland Divas. See the previous link for more details!

Another event taking place in New York on April 5th at Bryant Park in New York, is the American-Scottish Foundation’s “Pipes and Drums on the Fountain Terrace.” For more information visit the previous link! (There will be a repeat performance of the same event, the next day. For more information on other Tartan Week events, please see the following link NYC’s Tartan Week for lots of other ways to celebrate Tartan Week.

For those of you not in the NY area, look up local Tartan Day or Week festivities in your area. There may be a parade or other festival much closer to home!

You can also host your own Tartan Day celebration - don your kilt and the rest of your highland dress, and dig into a traditional Scottish dish like haggis or black pudding. Wash it down with your favorite single malt and save room for some cranachan for dessert.

You could also host a tea party with friends and loved ones. Read some Burns aloud and ‘tak a cup o’ kindness yet’ for the brave Scots who paved the way for representative government by consent in the western world!

Why Is It Called Tartan Day?
While the earliest surviving example of the fabric known today as tartan hails from China, it is far and away most closely associated with Scotland, as tartan is deeply involved not only with national but personal identity in Scotland.

In fact, tartan fabric, which is made of a unique weave pattern called a ‘sett’ consisting of differently-colored threads intersecting at right angles.

The weave. as unique as a fingerprint, is closely tied with the clan heritage of Scotland. Each clan has its own distinct tartan (some, like Stewart, have several) and in Scotland, it is only acceptable to wear your clan’s tartan, along with any others you have express permission to wear.

Over here, the rules are a little less strict, but all the same, there are ‘public’ tartans, like Pride of Scotland, that anyone can wear.

Because of tartan’s close associated with Scottish history, folkways, and national identity, it was chosen as the name of this unique holiday that celebrates Scottish independence.

Celebrate with Walker’s Shortbread
Whatever way you ultimately settle on for celebrating Tartan Day with friends and loved ones, we’re here to support you with Scotland’s finest all-butter shortbread. Grab a pack of your favorite Scottish cookies and let the festivities begin!