This year's Annual Tartan Day Parade will take place in Manhattan on Saturday, April 7, 2018. The parade starts at 2pm at 45th Street and marches up Sixth Avenue to 55th Street.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Tartan Week and to commemorate this celebration, KT Tunstall has been chosen to be the first female Grand Marshal to lead the parade. Tunstall is originally from St. Andrews and has been performing for more than 20 years now. When speaking to the Tartan Week committee she said, “I’m always happy to celebrate my roots as a Scottish musician, and I’ve never felt more empowered in my own career than I do now.” Over the years there have been a range of Scottish personalities who have had the privilege of the Grand Marshal title including Alan Cumming, Kevin McKidd, Sir Sean Connery and Outlander's Sam Heughan, to name a few.
4,000 marchers, including Highland dancers and pipe bands, along with 3 Celtic dog packs named the Tartan Terriers, the Hebridian Hunting Hounds and the Highland Herders will all take to the streets of New York on Saturday, April 7th for the official Tartan Day Parade.
Last year the parade drew in 30,000 spectators, that number is expected to grow again this year, it is free to watch the parade so if you are in New York it is an event you just can’t miss. For more information, visit nyctartanweek.org.