Do More To Celbrate St Andrews Day

6th November 2008

St Andrew's Day is packing a particular punch this year in the run up to Homecoming Scotland 2009 and the Scottish Government is encouraging everyone to "DO more" to celebrate our national day.

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani today announced an ambitious programme of events planned in cities and towns across the country with the flagship event, the St Andrew's DO, taking place right in the heart of our capital city.

Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens will host the St Andrew's DO, with a range of free entertainment activities for families, teenagers and adults over the entire St Andrew's Day weekend (29-30 November). St Andrew's Day also marks the start of Edinburgh's Winter Festival programme and provides a taste of the celebrations to come over Hogmanay and Burns Night, leading into Homecoming Scotland in 2009. An exciting
line-up of local events will run across the nation with full details on www.scotland.org/standrews

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: "St Andrew's Day is an opportunity for everyone at home, and our friends around the world, to celebrate Scotland - from our rich heritage to our vibrant modern culture.

"This year there is a great programme of events from our St Andrew's DO in Edinburgh to the various ceilidhs and street parties taking place all around the country. In addition to all the wonderful events scheduled in Scotland, many of the millions of affinity Scots all over the world will be celebrating St Andrew's Day, from the St Andrews Society of
Toronto to the Scottish Australian Heritage Society in Sydney - this is a great platform in the run up to Homecoming next year.

"Building on the successful "Visit for Free" initiative from last year, the public will again be able to visit some of our top visitor attractions with castles, museums, gardens and abbeys from Orkney to Jedburgh taking part on 30 November.

"St Andrew's Day also kicks off the Winter Festival running through Hogmanay and culminating on Burns Night - it's vital that we use our winter cultural calendar to showcase Scotland as a great year-round visitor destination and maximise tourism revenues at this time of global economic downturn.

"This year's celebrations are particularly special because they will be the warm up to Homecoming 2009. Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, Homecoming will pick up the thread from St Andrew's Day to celebrate Scotland's great achievements and our ties of family and friendship around the world.

"I encourage all Scots everywhere and anyone with a connection to Scotland to do more this year - celebrate our national day and enjoy the inimitable culture of Scotland old and new."

The St Andrew's DO
In the capital, the St Andrew's DO will celebrate Scottish culture and heritage, kicking off with a 'happy march', which will see hundreds of youngsters march to the gardens in full Saltire colours. The family-friendly programme of events includes workshops, storytelling,
games and ceilidh dancing for children as well as dance workshops and urban theatre for teenagers and young adults.

One of the highlights of the weekend will be performances from Hip Hop Skotch, which brings the sounds of the bagpipe together with a Hip Hop DJ. The Saturday evening will boast entertainment from Scotland's singing sensation Sandi Thom and contemporary Celtic band, Salsa Celtica will encourage party-goers to take to the dance floor.

Taste of events around the country
An exciting programme of events has been scheduled across Scotland including a ceilidh in Aberdeen, a fashion show and medieval day in Dundee and a street party featuring the Red Hot Chilli Pipers in Inverness. Glasgow's George Square plays host to live music and ceilidh dancing in the city's "Shindig on the Square", and in St Andrews itself, entertainment includes a St Andrew's Day procession and an outdoor stage
with entertainment and music.

Visit for Free
Again this year we are working with partners to promote the "Visit for Free" initiative where more than 60 of Scotland's top visitor attractions will open for free on St Andrew's Day. This joint initiative between The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland
and the Association of Visitor Attractions is designed to encourage Scots and visitors to celebrate Scotland's heritage and culture on our national day.

Further information and a full line up of events and activities planned across the country can be found online at www.scotland.org/standrewsday


The St Andrew's DO includes the following performances and
activities along with much more:

Happy March (Saturday)
To kick-start this year's celebrations, the St Andrew's Day Happy March
Parade in association with Edinburgh Leisure will be making its way
through the centre of Edinburgh. Led by a pipe band and cheerleaders,
hundreds of participants from across Edinburgh and the Lothians are
expected to participate.

Sunshine on Leith (Saturday and Sunday)
The cast of Sunshine on Leith will bring a little piece of summer joy to
the event when they perform highlights of the musical smash hit based
around 21 much loved Proclaimers' songs including Letter from America,
I'm on My Way and I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).

Clarinda (Sunday)
A special performance of Clarinda, a new Scottish musical play, written
by Mike Gibb and Kevin Walsh will take place at this year's St Andrew's
Day celebrations. The play explores the love affair between Scotland's
favourite bard Robert Burns and his true love Nancy McLehose.

Author storytelling sessions (Saturday and Sunday)
Scottish Children's authors Aileen Paterson, Lari Don, Linda Strachan
and Joan Lingard will keep children of all ages enthralled with tales
from their latest books including First Aid for Fairies, the tales of
Maisie and Hamish McHaggis' adventures.

Children's activities (Saturday and Sunday)
From art workshops where children can design their own Saltire flags to
face painters who will help transform partygoers into magical Scottish
creatures and activities such as giant games and balloon modellers,
there is something to appeal to everyone.

National Storytelling Centre (Saturday and Sunday)
Skilled storytellers from the National Storytelling Centre will be
thrilling audiences with traditional Scottish stories, sharing tales of
treasure, treason and triumph at sessions throughout the weekend.

Salsa Celtica (Saturday and Sunday)
Salsa Celtica will be bringing their unique sound to Princes Street
Gardens for the second year running. They will be providing music at the
showcase on the 29th and also at the ceilidh on the 30th for a
sensational Strip the Willows and dynamic Dashing White Sergeants.

Children's ceilidh (Sunday)
Ensuring that younger participants don't miss out, the Children's
Ceilidh incorporates simplified dances and expert tuition making it the
perfect introduction to the world of ceilidh for children and parents
alike.

Magic show (Saturday)
Four times Scotland's Children's Entertainer Of The Year and twice
Winner of the Murray Wand for Showmanship, magic sensation Tricky Ricky
will be stunning audiences with performances.

3. Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland's national
poet, Robert Burns, Homecoming will be the biggest ever celebration of
Scotland's achievements and culture and our ties of family and
friendship around the world. Events across the country will pick up the
thread from St Andrew's Day to celebrate some of Scotland's great
contributions to the world: Burns himself, whisky, golf, great Scottish
minds and innovations and our rich culture and heritage.
www.homecomingscotland2009.com