Scottish ceilidh dancers take over New York's Times Square

Tourists had a front row seat as ceilidh dancers took over New York as the city celebrates Scottish heritage.

Ceilidh dancers, accompanied by pipers, were seen in the popular destination surrounded by hundreds of tourists.

The week includes a New York City Tartan Day Parade, which is set to take place on April, 5. STV News

It comes as New York City Tartan Week, an annual celebration of Scottish American heritage, kicked off.

The week includes a New York City Tartan Day Parade on Saturday

Madison Square Park came alive with a traditional ceilidh fitness class. STV News

As part of the celebrations, New Yorkers also got a taste of Scotland via a VisitScotland food truck.

Scotland’s Snack Shack offered customers classic dishes with a Scottish twist, inspired by chef Clare Coghill’s Hebridean heritage.

New Yorkers also got a taste of Scotland via a VisitScotland food truck in the lead up to the NYC Tartan Day Parade. VisitScotland

The menu included lobster rolls with Isle of Raasay Distillery whisky butter, veggie haggis quesadillas, washed down by Irn Bru.

Afterwards, Madison Square Park came alive with a traditional ceilidh fitness class led by Mickela Mallozzi and performers from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

As the celebrations continue, the Scottish Register of Tartans reached a “significant milestone” with registration of it’s 10,000th design.

The milestone design was the 131 Argyle tartan, registered by the Diocesan Boys’ School of Hong Kong celebrating the school’s long history since its founding in in 1869.

Other designs in the past year include the Balmoral Glen Gelder tartan, registered by The Scottish Tartans Authority on behalf of HM The King’s Aberdeenshire estate.

National Records of Scotland chief executive, Alison Byrne, said the milestone demonstrates that people all over the world love tartan and want to ensure their designs are preserved as part of the historic record.

“You don’t have to be Scottish or have Scots heritage to register a design. Everyone can apply to register a new tartan,” she said.

Clare Coghill, of Café Cùil, said: “We welcome so many American visitors to Café Cùil each season and it’s been a delight to get to travel over here to work with VisitScotland and share some of our tastiest culture here at Tartan Week.

“Serving up Scottish street food at Madison Square Park, one of New York’s iconic addresses, has been a dream come true.”

Jill Walker, director of marketing and digital at VisitScotland, praised Tartan Week as an “engaging” way to focus attention on Scotland.

“Our activity combined inspirational events to target potential holidaymakers, with travel trade engagements to raise the profile of the destination, as part of our work to grow the Scottish economy through market development,” Ms Walker added.

“Chef Clare Coghill and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo are amazing ambassadors for Scotland, and we were excited to work with them to showcase our fantastic food, drink, and culture.”