National Tartan Day

Today is National Tartan Day here in the United States.

Check here:
http://www.tartanday.org/index.htm to see what celebrations will be held in your area. I was sort of surprised to see so few here in Texas. At our highland games, held later in the year, they have a whole weekend of games and showing off of tartans, and selling stuff like sabers one might need. Here in Texas we have our own Bluebonnet tartan. It is based on the color of the state flower of Texas, the bluebonnet. http://www.txscot.com/BB_tartan.htm

Texas Tartan Day celebrations in Texas will only be in the following:

Austin, TX
There will be a State of Texas ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, at 12 noon on April 6th, with a piper playing in honour of Tartan Day. See also Texas Scottish Heritage Society.

Dallas, TX
"A Scottish Ceilidh" will be presented by The Scottish Society of Dallas on Sunday, April 1st, from 1:00pm until 5:00pm at the Winfrey Point House, White Rock Lake. The afternoon event will be filled with the sounds of bagpipes, drums and Celtic music; demonstrations of Highland dancing; traditional Scottish country dancing; and more. Representatives of various Scottish clans will be on hand to share with you something of their clan customs and heritage.

San Antonio, TX
Tartan Day ceremonies are planned for the afternoon of Friday, March 30th, 2007, in front of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. The event is sponsored each year jointly by Scottish Society of San Antonio and the San Antonio Highland Games Association, with the cooperation of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The colorful ceremony, includes participation by pipe and drum corps, local ROTC units, local/state/foreign dignitaries, highland dancers, etc. A tribute to the Scots who fell at the Alamo is read, and proclamations are read from the Mayor, declaring the day to be Tartan Day and the weekend to be Highland Weekend in San Antonio. Guest speaker is Carl Peterson, singer and author. On Saturday and Sunday, March 31st and April 1st will be the San Antonio Highland Games and Clan Gathering at Helotes Festival Grounds, in Helotes, TX (a suburb just northwest of San Antonio). There will be the traditional heavy athletics, sheepdog trials, Clan tents & vendors as well as dancing and piping.

We have some Highland Games here in Fort Worth..well, actually we have to go to Arlington to attend, but it is later in the year when it is nicer and a lot hotter. It gets really warm out in that field. Actually it will be held June 5th through the 7th. http://www.texasscottishfestival.com/
I'm pretty sure we have tracked down some of our Scottish ancestors while researching our family.