What is St Andrew's Day?

On November the 30th the world celebrates St Andrew's Day, Scotland's national holiday day. It is a day of feasting and celebrating with music and dancing. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated St Andrew's Day as an official bank holiday and it is also a national holiday in Romania. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Greece, Romania, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Saint Andrew, Barbados. In these other European countries, superstition surrounds St Andrew's day, with many believing that the eve of this celebration is the opportune time to carry out rituals revealing the future husbands of single women. Traditionally these rituals were only performed by young women, but nowadays young men like to get involved in the festivities too.

Traditions

In Scotland, St Andrew's day is an official flag day, meaning that their country's flag must be flown on the roof of every building with a flagpole. The Scottish flag or Saltire is based on the X-shaped cross on which St Andrew was crucified on 30 November, 60 AD. An ancient story tells that a St Andrew's Cross was seen in the sky on the morning of a crucial battle in 832AD between the Picts and the Angles. St Andrew's Day is marked with a celebration of Scottish culture with traditional Scottish food, music and lots of dancing. Schools across Scotland and the UK hold special St Andrew's Day events and activities including art shows, Scottish country dancing, lunchtime ceilidhs,  dance festivals, storytelling, reciting and writing poems, writing tall tales, cooking traditional Scottish meals, and bagpipe-playing... How cool is this!

Get Dressed Up!

For those of you who need ideas on what to wear for St Andrew's day, look no further we have a solution! Hollywood love to provide all sorts of costumes and accessories for you to have a great time in. St Andrew's Day is an exciting event for us and we want to make it extra special for you. We have tartan kilts, Scottish hats with hair and many more items to make your day special! Visit one of our Hollywood stores where one of our customer sales assistant would be happy to help or alternatively order online at Hollywood.uk.com!