Celebrating St Andrew’s Day in a big way across London

If you go by inhabitants then London is the third largest Scottish city by population after Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ever since King James VI made his way south there has been a large scale presence in the English capital which today is estimated at between one and two hundred thousand people.

Scotland has been celebrated on an annual basis largely around Burns season at the end of January, but this year St Andrew’s Day was also marked in a big way across London.

For the first time there was the new and exciting St Andrew’s Book Festival with a festival programme that is exciting, ambitious and wide-ranging in its appeal with household names to debut authors and spoken word artists including Sir Alexander McCall Smith, Sir Ian Rankin, Judy Murray, Ann Cleeves, Andrew O’Hagan, Jackie Kay and the Saltire Society First Book Award Showcase – in partnership with The Scotsman.

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All of this was organised by Scots in London, an umbrella organisation bringing together Scottish cultural societies, sports clubs, alumni groups, charities, churches and the Scottish military tradition in London.

Their mission is to coordinate and run events, promote Scottish culture, heritage and the arts in the London area and support relevant charities and include: The Burns Club of London, The Caledonian Club of London, The Caledonian Society of London, Crown Court Church of Scotland at Covent Garden, St Columba’s Church of Scotland in Knightsbridge, London Scottish Football Club, London Scottish Regiment, ScotsCare charity for Scots in London, Scottish Business Network and Scotland House – the Scottish Government’s representative office in London. The events took place with the generous support of both Creative Scotland and the Arts Council England.

Meanwhile the fantastic London venue King’s Place hosted a St Andrew’s Night with Blue Rose Code, Eddi Reader and Steve Knightley along with rising stars of the Scottish folk scene, including all-female Gaelic vocal trio Sian.

King’s Place has been hosting Scotland Unwrapped, its 16th edition of their award-winning year-long series: celebrating Scottish music and spoken word culture, highlighting both its traditional and regional riches and also exploring the diverse contemporary scene and the writers and composers which give Scotland its distinctive voice. As well as covering a wide range of musical genres from cutting-edge contemporary composers, folk musicians and Scottish classical ensembles, Scotland Unwrapped has also embraced the heady literary scene and wealth of Scottish festivals.

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Other events in London, included a St Andrew’s Day lunch hosted by London Scottish Rugby Club at the Sheraton Grand, a pop-up Ceilidh St Andrew’s Special in Balham and the London Kilt Run, which started and finished at the Robert Burns Statue.

I was honoured to host a reception at Scotland House, the Scottish Government’s representative office, which works as part of the Brand Scotland partnership in London with Scottish Development International, Scotland’s enterprise agencies, Visit Scotland, Universities Scotland, Food and Drink Scotland and others. It was great to see so many people from the Scottish diaspora in London, and friends of Scotland in the city and from the diplomatic community.

St Andrew’s Day is now being celebrated around the world as never before. For decades Ireland has used St Patrick’s Day to successfully promote itself abroad. The Scottish Government and the Brand Scotland partnership it leads are proud to support Scotland’s diaspora both near and far and also thanks all St Andrew’s Day event organisers and attendees.

Angus Robertson is the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary

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