First held in 1999 when a couple of pipe bands and a small bunch of enthusiastic Scottish-Americans took to the streets of New York, the annual Tartan Day Parade has become a big event in recent years.
Held on the closest Saturday to April 6, when the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320, it’s the culmination of the city’s Tartan Week and is the world’s biggest event marking Tartan Day, a celebration originally established in Canada in the 1980s.
Each year a famous face is invited to be Grand Marshal, becoming the face of the year’s event and leading the parade of thousand of participants and musician - all, of course, wearing tartan.
This year’s procession, on Satuday, April 5, will see actor Alan Cumming become only the second person to act as Grand Marshal twice.
5. 2007: George Reid
The first politicians to lead the parade was George Reid (later Sir George Reid) in 2007. At the time he was Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. | Getty Images
6. 2008: Lawrence Tynes
2008 saw the first sports star lead the Tartan Day Parade - American Footballer Lawrence Tynes, who played for the New York Giants. Tynes played for the Scottish Claymores for a few games in 2002. | Getty Images
7. 2009: Alan Cumming
Tony-winning Scottish actor Alan Cumming represented Scotland in New York in 2009. The star, globally famous for the 'X-Men' movies and television series 'The Good Wife', recently returned to Scotland to become Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre. | Getty Images for Empire State Re
8. 2010: Sir Alex Fergusson
In 2010 it was Sir Alex Fergusson's turn to take on the role - not the Manchester United legend, but the third Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament who died in 2018. | National World