Tartan Day on Ellis Island 2012 Enjoys Record-Breaking Numbers

The 2012 edition of Clan Currie's Tartan Day on Ellis Island broke all attendance records with over 70 thousand visitors from around the corner and around the world.

A steady stream of visitors were thrilled to experience the sights and sounds of the NY Celtic Dancers accompanied by the Rampant Lion Pipe Band as they stepped ashore on Ellis Island. Inside the museum, visitors poured through the Tartan Day exhibition while enjoying the delightful sounds of harp, fiddle, and guitar.

The 2012 program featured poetry and art from "An Leabhar Mòr" - the Great Book of Gaelic - as well as a series of interpretive panels looking at Gaelic history and culture, and immigration to the United States from Scotland and Ireland.

The program also included two evenings of lectures and poetry readings at New York's Poet's House.

This was the 11th observance of Tartan Day on Ellis Island produced by the Clan Currie Society. Past programs have included, "The Life and Legacy of John Muir," "Loyalty and Exile - The Jacobites and America," "Scotland's Gifts to the World," and "Tartan - Scotland's Enduring Icon."

As part of the annual program, the Clan Currie Society also debuted their award-winning documentary film, "The Crafter's Song" on YouTube -