Gaelic College Tartan Featured at Craft Centre

The Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design is featuring Gaelic College Tartan, a display of a wide variety of tartans woven at the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in Cape Breton.

The display, running today, July 22, to Sept. 9, promotes the special tartan designed and produced by the Gaelic College. It includes more than 25 samples of different tartans, shawls, kilts and tartan outfits.

The Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts is on the Cabot Trail overlooking the Cape Breton Highlands surrounding St. Ann's Bay. Founded in 1938 by Rev. A.W.R. MacKenzie, the college has an international reputation for its contribution toward promoting and preserving the culture of the Scottish Highlanders who settled in Cape Breton.

Today, the college offers classes in the Gaelic language, Highland piping, drumming and dancing, weaving and spinning, and other topics. The campus craft shop specializes in Scottish gifts and custom-made tartan clothing from more than 200 tartans in stock

The Gaelic College Tartan exhibition is part of the centre's ongoing production crafts display program, which allows the public to appreciate the work of Nova Scotia producers without the pressure to buy. Information is available for those wishing to know more about the products and where they can be bought. The program also displays the range and quality of crafts available in Nova Scotia.

The Centre for Craft and Design is at 1683 Barrington St., Halifax. It is dedicated to developing and promoting the craft and design sectors of the province. The centre is part of the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Education and Culture.

Gaelic College Tartan may be viewed Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is no charge for admission.