First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City is marking four decades of bagpipes, blessings and bake sales this weekend as it hosts its 40th annual Scottish Festival and Kirkin' o' th' Tartan, a milestone celebration expected to draw roughly 5,000 people to the church grounds. The festivities honor both the congregation's Scottish heritage and the memory of longtime member Pamela Atkinson, the community advocate who died on Oct. 10 at age 93.
Two Timeslots Circulating for Saturday's Festival
According to KSL News, the Scottish Festival is scheduled to run for four hours starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday. A separate account from Deseret News describes the celebration running from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. the same day, so attendees may want to confirm timing directly with the church before heading over. Either way, the event is free for the community, and organizers say everyone is welcome.
Free activities will include a bounce house, face painting, balloon animals and mini golf, the station reports. The church's own festival page lists Scottish fare from “Cross and Thistle Pub,” including a beer garden, signature cocktails and mocktails, and the congregation's famously popular shortbread and scone bake sale, according to First Presbyterian Church's festival page. Traditional Scottish baked goods will also be sold separately at the otherwise free event, per the same KSL report. Nearby businesses have agreed to let festivalgoers use their parking garages for the day, the station notes.
Pipe Band Caps the Night, Then Returns Sunday
Immediately after the festival wraps, the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band will take over with a 6 p.m. concert featuring pipers, drummers and dancers, a show expected to run between an hour and a half and two hours. The band's connection to the church runs deep: it has taken part in the Kirkin' o' th' Tartan at First Presbyterian since the very first one held there in 1986, and the group practices at the church, according to the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band. The band itself was founded in 1962 by Scottish immigrants and their families, the same source notes.
The pipe band's involvement doesn't stop Saturday night. Thirty-five of its members will perform during First Presbyterian's two Sunday services, held at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., the station's report notes, and the band is set to play Amazing Grace after the Kirkin' o' th' Tartan concludes, honoring Scottish immigrants who settled in Utah. Each church service can seat 750 people, and those two Sunday sessions normally draw an estimated 1,500 worshippers combined, with attendance last year reaching as many as 1,700.
Pastors Bless Family Tartans on Reformation Sunday
The Kirkin' o' th' Tartan takes place the morning after the festival, falling on Reformation Sunday, the last Sunday of October, when members of Scottish-American clans bring their family tartans to the church to be blessed. Pastors Jamie White and Jared McClure will bless the families during the service, the same KSL account notes. White has taught at the church for five years and said families carry the blessings home with them to reflect on their impact.
Jared McClure said the congregation is planning to make this year's 40th-anniversary festival especially elaborate, per the station's report. Jamie White said she expects Sunday attendance to exceed last year's turnout. This year's festival and Kirkin' service will also honor families with ancestry stretching across the Atlantic, alongside the memory of Pamela Atkinson, who took part in every previous Kirkin' o' th' Tartan service before her death earlier this month.
A Congregation Rooted in 1871, Still Growing
First Presbyterian traces its origins to Nov. 12, 1871, when it was organized with just 12 founding members, according to the church's own history page. Church leaders have more recently described the congregation as being in what one described as a “wild season of growth right now,” per Deseret News. This year's Scottish heritage weekend also reflects what organizers call a 40-year commitment to the church's broader Presbyterian heritage, a thread that runs alongside the festival's Scottish traditions and continues a pattern the church has followed for decades, including past festivals in 2018 and 2021 that similarly combined Highland dance, bagpipe concerts and blessing services.
