In both Canada and USA April 6 has, for some years, been designated 'Tartan Day'. Tartan Day offers a great opportunity for people throughout the US and Canada to celebrate their affinity to Scotland.
In 2008 the Scottish Government sought to build on the success of previous Tartan Day celebrations with an ambitious programme of Ministerial events in Canada and the USA called Scotland Week aimed at building new relationships and promoting trade and investment opportunities for Scotland.
In total Scottish Ministers visited eight cities in the United States (Austin, Boston, Charlottesville, Houston, New York, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, DC), as well as Toronto in Canada.
Their programmes sought to highlight Scotland as a dynamic market with great investment potential, to build new and important strategic relationships, to showcase Scotland's outstanding academic reputation and to promote cultural heritage.
During Scotland Week 2008 Ministers carried out over 60 engagements in the east, west, north and south of the US and in Canada. The programme ranged from events such as live Scottish music and the Scotland Run, to business and travel trade receptions supporting the activities of Scottish Development International (SDI) and VisitScotland.
An evaluation of Scotland Week 2008 is now available.