Tartan Day Tunes Up!
The music of Scotland is a key feature of this year’s Tartan Day Scotland celebrations, which take place across Angus from April 2 until April 11.
Tartan Day Scotland, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, highlights the very best of Scotland, with the fantastic music, song and dance created by Scots past and present featuring in many of the Tartan Day Angus events.
On Friday, April 2, dancers from The Gordon School of Dance will treat the audience to performances of their world-class dancing and choreography at ‘The Kilt Is Our Delight’, which is being held in Montrose Town Hall. “This concert, which also includes Scottish songs, music and humour, was one of the highlights of last year’s Tartan Day celebrations - and all the signs are that this year’s concert will be even better,” revealed Robina Addison of The Gordon School of Dance.
Arbroath will be marking the opening weekend of Tartan Day celebrations with live music in many local pubs, along with the Tartan Day Highland Dancing Competition, which will be held in the town’s Community Centre on Saturday, April 3. In Forfar, the town’s pipe band will be playing traditional music at The Cross from 1.30pm until 3pm, while on Sunday, April 4, there will be a Folk Evening at Chapter and Verse. In addition, ‘Forfar’s Got Talent’, which is being held in the Plough Inn, will provide talented local people with their chance to step into the limelight.
As the scene of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath on April 6, 1320, Tartan Day - April 6 - is always a good day to visit Arbroath and this year is no exception. At 7.30pm, after the torchlight procession through the streets of Arbroath, the ‘Celebration of Scotland’ concert in St Andrews Church will showcase the best of Scotland’s dancing, singing and comedy.
The music continues on the evening of Wednesday, April 7, when a Folk Session/Bothy Ballad Night is being held at the Plough Inn in Forfar. “Folk nights at the Plough are very relaxed and highly enjoyable,” said Iain Whyte of the Plough Inn. “Come along and join in!”
On Friday, April 9, the skies above the Angus coastline will be filled with the sound of traditional Scottish music. Arbroath’s Tartan Day Ceilidh at the Lions Head Function Suite, Red Lion Caravan Park, includes entertainment from the ever-popular Rosely Ceilidh Band – as well as haggis, neeps and tatties and clootie dumpling! Meanwhile, only a few miles down the coast, Carnoustie Business Association’s Tartan Day Ceilidh at the Kinloch Hotel promises to be an equally enjoyable evening.
Saturday, April 10 will be packed full of good tunes for the people of Forfar, with Forfar and District Pipe Band playing another selection of traditional music at The Cross between 1.30pm and 3pm and Forfar’s Tartan Day Ceilidh taking place in the Plough Inn that evening.
“The people of Angus appear to have more than their fair share of Scotland’s musical talents,” said the Provost of Angus, Ruth Leslie Melville. “The Tartan Day celebrations are a wonderful opportunity for us all to make a song and dance about just how wonderful a county Angus is.”
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