Salmond goes solemn and cuts costs as Scottish Week drops tartan tag

THE Scottish Government has halved its budget for Scotland Week, saying there was too much emphasis on partying in previous years.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, yesterday revealed changes to the April event, previously Tartan Week, which is designed to sell Scotland to the US.

In a major break with the past, the SNP administration said the event would change from a cultural showcase centred on New York, with tartan fashion shows in a party atmosphere, to the serious business of selling Scotland as a "dynamic business market".

Unveiling the programme during a speech to the Scottish Council of Development and Industry's 37th international forum in St Andrews yesterday, Mr Salmond said: "There was a slight over-emphasis on the party element and maybe a slight under-emphasis on other aspects of things.

"I felt perhaps we had to be a wee bit more hard-headed in some of the things we were doing."

The budget for the event will be cut this year from £700,000 to £400,000. Neither the Scottish Village in New York's Central Station – a centrepiece of the celebrations – nor the high profile Dressed to Kilt fashion show will go ahead next month.

Instead Mr Salmond will lead ministers on a whistle-stop week of activities which will take him to Boston, Washington and New York, with ministers visiting seven US and Canadian cities.

At Harvard University, he will speak to its Centre for European Studies on "Creating the Celtic Lion Economy".

At the headquarters of the prestigious National Geographic Society in Washington, he will talk on "Renewable Energy; Innovations That Can Save Our Planet". He will champion Scotland's lead in wave and wind energy.

For years, Tartan Week has been attacked as a costly event that offered an old-fashioned version of Scotland laden with "tartan and shortbread". It was widely covered in the Scottish press but critics said it was virtually ignored in North America.

The new approach may have been partly driven by circumstances. New York's Grand Central Station was not available this year. Dressed To Kilt has been moved to October as part of New York Fashion Week.

But Mr Salmond said his appearances would make more of a splash, with television time on Fox Business News or the National Geographic Channel.

Tartan Day, recognised by an act of Congress as 6 April, remains part of Scotland Week and Mr Salmond insisted he was not rejecting tartan, despite the change of name.

He said: "Americans do like tartan, but they don't connect it in their minds with Scotland."

Martin Hunt, managing director of the Tartan Silk PR agency, praised the new approach. "I am very supportive of making our links with America much more businesslike. I don't think catwalk glamour and parties are a good representation of what Scotland is about."

But Pete Irvine, the organiser of Edinburgh's Hogmanay sounded a note of caution. "I think it was time to rethink Tartan Week.

I understand this year there will not be so much of a cultural offering – but I hope very much that is not the case in the years to come."

Now – sales talk

• BUDGET: £400,000

• SERIOUS STUFF: Alex Salmond is in Boston, Virginia, Washington DC and New York. Enterprise and tourism minister Jim Mather meets Microsoft vice-president in Seattle. Tartan Day Parade up Sixth Avenue. Scottish Youth Theatre's When a Star Falls in New York.

• TARTAN CELEBRITIES: Greenock-born New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes leads parade.

• MEMORABLE MOMENT (Maybe): Salmond speaks on renewable energy.

• AMERICAN COVERAGE: (Probably) Aw, shucks, there's thousands of bagpipers in New York.

Then – fun and fashion

• BUDGET: £700,000

&149 SERIOUS STUFF: Traditional Scotland on show at Scottish Village, Grand Central Station; Dressed to Kilt catwalk presents a modern, sexy Scotland to Americans. Tartan Day Parade up Sixth Avenue.

• TARTAN CELEBRITIES: Actors Billy Boyd, Allison Mackenzie, singer Sandi Thom, violinist Nicola Benedetti, Ivana Trump.

• MEMORABLE MOMENT: Jack McConnell's pinstripe kilt and open-necked shirt.

• AMERICAN COVERAGE: Aw, shucks, there's thousands of bagpipers in New York.