With the start of the Tartan Day Scotland Festival 2015 coinciding with the start of the school holidays, there will be no shortage of activities for children of all ages across Angus from 3-12 April.
The Tartan Day Scotland Festival is an annual celebration of Scotland and the Scots inspired by the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath on 6 April 1320. As well as a special day of events at Arbroath Abbey on 6 April 2015, a range of other Tartan Day Scotland Festival family events will take place in and around Angus.
Throughout the festival, libraries across Angus will be holding Lego in The Library events, where children can listen to a Scottish tale and build McLego models. In addition, young visitors to Kirriemuir’s Gateway to the Glens Museum can colour in kilts and design their own tartans, while children of primary school age can compete in a fun competition spotting – and naming – the tartans on display in Forfar’s shop windows.
On Saturday, 4 April, West Links Family Fun Day will celebrate the first day of Arbroath’s summer season and the re-opening of the park’s many family activities. As well as fun activities such as speeding around a track on go-karts, playing crazy golf and travelling on Arbroath’s famous Little Trainie, the family fun day will feature a visit by Animal Man’s Mini Zoo and the chance to have a close encounter withlizards, snakes and spiders.
The start of this year’s Tartan Day Scotland Festival also coincides with Easter Weekend. From April 3-6, Easter events with a tartan tinge will be held at Glamis Castle and Peel Farm, while on 4 April, Brechin will host a family celebration in the town centre, with a coffee morning, classic cars, vintage vehicles, storytelling and side shows.
Local country parks are holding a variety of events during the Tartan Day Scotland Festival. The Rangers at Forfar Loch will be Going The Whole Hog with their talk about hedgehogs, including how to attract these prickly creatures to your garden. Monikie Country Park is the venue for an Outdoor Activities Club every afternoon from 7-9 April and there will be activities for children at Crombie Country Park on the mornings of 8/9 April, as well as a meeting of Crombie Park Young Naturalists Club on 11 April, when members will plant and sow wildflowers for the park’s bees.
“Children of all ages are very well catered for by this year’s Tartan Day Scotland Festival,” said the Provost of Angus, Cllr Helen Oswald. “This is good news for them and also good news for their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I’m looking forward to taking my grandchildren to several of the Tartan Day Scotland Festival events.”
For more information, and the full list of events, The Tartan Day Scotland Festival programme is available at www.tartandayscotland.com.
Caption: Fergus Bone from Clackmannan meets Arbroath Abbey Timethemes’ King Robert The Bruce at a previous Tartan Day Scotland Festival
