The new World Fair Trade Tartan clan will represent Scotland as a Fair Trade nation at the 20th NYC Tartan Day Parade next weekend.
The new tartan was created to promote the country’s status as a Fair Trade Nation and it will be on show during the parade on Saturday down the city’s Sixth Avenue.
Rudi Dalai President of the World Fair Trade Organisation will line up for hte parade along with Tania Pramschufer, director of Hand Up Events and Edinburgh’s own Louise Marshall who is the piper to the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh.
Louise said: “It is a huge honour to have been invited to participate in my very first NYC Tartan Day Parade and even more exciting to hear it is our very own fabulous Scottish singer/songwriter and musician KT Tunstall leading as the first female Grand Marshal.” Louise will be playing her father’s 120 year-old Robertson bagpipes and sporting the tartan of course. She has a background with Fair Trade and is really happy to support the organisation by being their official piper.
Kyle Dawson, President of the National Tartan Day New York Committee said: “I am thrilled to see the World Fair Trade Tartan clan coming to Tartan Week and on our 20th Anniversary. It makes it that much more special. What better fabric to represent World Fair Trade than tartan. The Scots have settled all over the world, branching out to give their mark on the world communities, it’s only fitting that World Fair Trade should be represented by such an amazing fabric.”
The WFT tartan was the brain-child of Tania Pramschufer, Hand Up Events who created and registered it, working on the design in collaboration with House of Edgar, textile designers who replicated the well-known and distinctive Fair Trade colours of green and blue in the woven design.
Rudi Dalvai said: “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It has proved to be a sustainable development tool by offering better trading conditions to small farmer and handicraft producers. It is a great honour for me to take part of the 20th NYC Tartan Day Parade to celebrate Scotland as one of the first globally, Fair Trade Nations and to promote the new World Fair Trade Tartan”.
Tania Pramschufer said : “The journey to New York Tartan Parade is such an honour for the World Fair Trade Tartan clan, as we will be representing Scotland as a Fair Trade Nation and World Fair Trade Organisations, so we feel so very humbled to be joining this great and exciting event and to be making new connections in the USA.
”Through the tartan, we aim to connect with many WFTO projects around the world, to weave the tartan and make into a range of accessories which can then be brought to market and eventually sold not just in the UK, but in US, Canada, Australia and everywhere in between. And working collaboratively, we also aim to bring more awareness of weaving the tartan in Scotland, sharing these resources with other nations and the products to profit Fair Trade members and organisations around the globe.”
“Development of the tartan design and colours has been a long but meaningful process and made possible with a great team of people. We worked with Nick Statt and Trudie Ainsworth from House of Edgar, a great Scottish company with a heritage of more than 200 years weaving and a robust ethical and environmental commitment.
“Working together on the design to create World Fair Trade Tartan, the colours and design of this new tartan have been inspired by and gifted to World Fair Trade Organisation GS members to weave using wool and or cotton and then to make into tartan accessories.”
For further information on World Fair Trade Tartan check out www.worldfairtradetartan.co.uk
#NYCTW
#NYCTW is more than the parade with events taking place from Wednesday 4 April onwards, but the parade itself is the pinnacle with musician KT Tunstall announced as the Grand Marshal this year.
There are 4,000 people registered to march with three Celtic dog packs, the Tartan Terriers, Hebridean Hunting Hounds and the Highland Herders.
On Friday 6 April 2018 (designated as National Tartan Day by the US Senate in 1998) the Tartan Day Observance at Bryant Park will commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.
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