Tartan Week launched in New York
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump launched New York’s Tartan Week celebrations today.
The 59-year-old property tycoon talked about his plans for a £300m (€430.1m) golf development on the Menie Estate near Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, saying he had seen 211 different sites all over Europe but had always preferred Scotland.
Tartan Week has become New York’s leading event celebrating Scottish history and culture.
Festivities in the annual event will centre on a replica Scottish Village built inside Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal and featuring zones such as tourism, food and drink, heritage, business and education.
On offer to the 250,000 Americans expected to take a look will be live music, fashion shows, culinary exhibitions and dance.
There will also be a display of kilts that have been worn by celebrities such as Ozzy and Jack Osbourne and Robbie Williams.
Also included will be the kilts worn by Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange in the hit movie Rob Roy.
The exhibitions are organised by VisitScotland.
Tomorrow, more than 3,000 runners will compete in a 10-kilometre run from Central Park, traditionally the last qualifier before the New York Marathon.
On Monday, a host of Scottish celebrities including Sean Connery and golfing legend Sam Torrance will be at the Dressed To Kilt event, which includes a star-studded fashion show highlighting top designers from Scotland.
Next Sunday, the Tartan Day Parade will see several thousand pipers and drummers make their way down 6th Avenue in the climax to the week’s events.
The US Senate passed a resolution recognising April 6 as National Tartan Day in 1998, in recognition of “the outstanding contribution of millions of Scots-Americans to our great nation”.
Mr Trump yesterday announced that the Trump International Golf Links Scotland would include two championship golf courses, a golf academy and a five-star hotel.
The site will cover 800 acres, and run for two and a half miles by the sea.
Mr Trump has vowed that it will be the best golf course of its kind in the world.
“My preference was always Scotland and it’s also the birthplace of golf…When we saw this we just wanted to do it,” he said in New York.
“We’re really looking forward to building the greatest golf course in the world.”
breakingnews
