MANILA, Philippines – November 30, Tuesday is Scotland's St. Andrew's Day. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and St. Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day. To mark this special occasion, several events are held, such as celebratory dinners and ceilidhs (traditional Gaelic social gatherings) around the nation. Located in the eastern part of Scotland, the town of St. Andrews celebrates its patron in style with a week-long St. Andrews Festival, incorporating music, arts, dance, and drama. This year, the Scottish Government has launched a poster competition for schools with the theme of Scotland's Food and Drink.
As early as 2003, the idea of making St. Andrew's Day an official bank holiday was broached by Dennis Canavan, Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk West. Three years later, the Scottish Parliament proclaimed St. Andrew's Day as an official holiday. St. Andrew's Day is celebrated not only in Scotland but also in some European countries where St. Andrew is also their patron saint. These countries are Greece, Romania, and Russia.
St. Andrew was a fisherman and one of the disciples of Jesus responsible for spreading the new faith throughout Asia Minor and Greece. He was killed by the Romans in Patras, a city in Greece, by being crucified on an X-shaped cross, which would later become a heraldic Scottish symbol called Saltire found in Scotland's National Flag.
Scotland is one of the nations, together with Wales, England, and Northern Ireland, which form the United Kingdom (UK).
Although part of the UK, Scotland's legal system continues to be independent from those of UK's other nations. The preservation of a genuine Scottish identity is embedded in four distinct foundations: The Scottish education system, Scots law, the Church of Scotland, and Scottish bank notes.
We congratulate the people of Scotland led by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and their Excellencies, Prime Minister David William Donald Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond, and the United Kingdom's Embassy in the Philippines headed by H.E., Ambassador Stephen Lillie, on the occasion of St. Andrew's Day. We wish them all the best and success in all their endeavors.
Source: MB.com.ph
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