The country's flagship event, the St Andrew's DO, will take place right in the heart of Edinburgh. The city's West Princes Street Gardens will host the St Andrew's DO, with a range of free entertainment activities for families, young adults and adults over the entire St Andrew's Day weekend (29-30 November).

Download programme summary [22kb pdf]

PROGRAMME SUMMARY

Saturday 29 November

Morning

West Princes Street Gardens
10.45-11.00   Happy march of children along Princes Street
11.00-16.00   Balloon modellers, National Storytelling Centre, face painting, art workshops, giant games 

Afternoon
14.00-14.45   Magic show: Tricky Ricky
Throughout the afternoon there will be Children's Author storytelling sessions and from the afternoon to evening there will be opportunities for children to meet SRU rugby players.      

20.30-20.40   Hip Hop Scotch 

Evening entertainment from Hip Hop Scotch, Sandi Thom, Salsa Celtica, Dykeenies

Sunday 30 November

Morning

West Princes Street Gardens
11.00-16.00 Balloon modellers, National Storytelling Centre, face painting, art workshops, giant games
13.00-13.30 (with breaks) Kids ceilidh
11.00-16.15 Author storytelling sessions: as Saturday

Afternoon into Evening
18.00-18.30 "Clarinda – a new Scottish musical play" by Mike Gibbs
18.45-19.05 Hip Hop Scotch
19.15-20.45 Ceilidh workshop
21.00-22.30 (incl 30 min break) Salsa Celtica 

Monday 1 December

Scottish Parliament Chamber
19.00 St Andrew's Day Debating Championship 2008

A special performance of Clarinda, a new Scottish musical play, written by Mike Gibbs and Kevin Walsh will take place at this year's St Andrew's Day celebrations. The play explores the passionate love affair between Scotland's favourite bard Robert Burns and his true love Nancy McLehose.

Get your marching shoes on!! To kick-start this year's celebrations, the St Andrew's Day Happy March Parade in association with Edinburgh Leisure will be stomping its way through the centre of Edinburgh. Led by a pipe band, cheerleaders, hundreds of participants from across Edinburgh and the Lothians are expected to participate.

To register for the St Andrew's Happy March click here

We have selected the cream of Scottish Children's authors – Aileen Paterson, Lari Don, Linda Strachan and Joan Lingard who will keep children of all ages enthralled with tales from their latest books including First Aid for Fairies, the tales of Maisie and Hamish McHaggis' adventures.

Come along and test your skills against some of the Scottish rugby squad. Skills and practice sessions are open to all.

From art workshops where you can design your own Saltire flags to face painters who will help transform partygoers into magical Scottish creatures and Braveheart warriors plus giant games and balloon modellers, there is something to appeal to everyone. Sensational storytellers from the National Storytelling Centre will also be on-hand to thrill audiences with traditional Scottish stories, sharing tales of treasure, treason and triumph at sessions throughout the weekend.

Sensational storytellers from the National Storytelling Centre will be thrilling audiences with traditional Scottish stories, sharing tales of treasure, treason and triumph at sessions throughout the weekend.

Salsa Celtica will be bringing their unique sound to Princes Street Gardens for the second year running. They will be providing music at the showcase on the 29th and also at the ceilidh on the 30th, so dust off your dancing shoes and limber up in preparation for sensational Strip the Willows and dynamic Dashing White Sergeants.

Salsa Celtica are a Scottish group who have fused the sultry sounds of South American salsa with traditional Scottish ceilidh producing a whole new genre. Formed in 1995 by musicians from across the Scottish jazz and folk scenes, and with performances at T in the Park and Edinburgh's Hogmanay under their belt, Salsa Celtica will prove to be a surefire hit at this year's St Andrew's DO!

Fresh from their success at this year's Rock Ness Festival, Scottish Indie sensations, the Dykeenies will be playing a special up close and personal St Andrew's Day gig at St Andrew's DO. Hailing from Cumbernauld, the boys have emerged from the Glasgow gig scene as one of the best new bands around. Formed in late 2005, the band were the first act signed to the King Tuts Recordings label. They released their debut album, Nothing Means Everything in Summer 2007.

Ensuring that younger participants don't miss out, the Children's Ceilidh with simplified dances and expert tuition is the perfect introduction to the world of ceilidh for children and parents alike.

Four times Scotland's Children's Entertainer of the Year and twice winner of the Murray Wand for Showmanship, magic sensation, Tricky Ricky will be stunning audiences with performances on Saturday 29th Nov.

Hip Hop Scotch takes on two different cultural identities and explores what happens when they come together. Hip Hop is not just about the bling but representing who you are and where you are from. The teenage cast showcase their Scottish identity complete with the authentic skirl of a young bag piper. This is all mixed up with b-boying, beatboxing and the freshest hip hop beats showing the world what it truly means to be a hip hop Jock. The b-boys hop scotch their way through impressive break dance moves to the sounds of the bag piper and a Hip Hop DJ. We also witness the battle between the DJ, the bag piper and the beat boxer; will they end up complimenting each other`s style or will this be the biggest battle in the Hip Hop genre to be seen in Scotland? Sit back and enjoy the journey of Scottish and Hip Hop cultures coming together in one big show.

This is your chance to enjoy up-close an personal acoustic performance with one of Scotland's greatest young talents.

Sandi famously came to the world's attention in that same tiny basement with her '21 nights in Tooting' tour – three weeks of concerts that she sent out to audiences worldwide via the Internet. Her first single had already been released via the small independent label Viking Legacy and she had an album ready to go, but suddenly the media picked up on her story and all the majors were queuing up in her kitchen to sign her. And when 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker' was re-released on her new label RCA, it went straight to number one in the UK and went on to be a hit world-wide. In Australia alone, it topped the charts for a record-breaking 12 weeks.