Helsinki terrier parade celebrates Scottish culture with tartan-clad dogs
Saturday 8th August 2026 on 18:30 in
Finland
Terriers and their owners marched through Helsinki to bagpipe music on Saturday, with many dogs dressed in flowers, lace and tartan, Yle reported. The parade combines Scottish culture with dog enthusiasts and was held in Helsinki for the second time.
The event brings together terrier breeds with Scottish backgrounds, including West Highland white terriers, Scottish terriers, Dandie Dinmont terriers and Cairn terriers. The parade was inspired by New York Tartan Week, an annual celebration of Scottish culture held in April.
The New York event began in the late 1990s, when two pipe bands and a group of Scottish Americans took part in the city’s first Tartan Day parade under the leadership of Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson. Canada has celebrated Tartan Day since the 1980s, and the tradition has since spread to other countries.
Helsinki’s parade also featured the bagpipe orchestra Helsinki Pipes and Drums. Some dogs wore tartan kilts, while others appeared in more elaborate outfits. West Highland white terrier Dodo took part in a flowered dress with lace ruffles.
Tuija Suomi brought her two terriers, Ansa and Piki, to the parade from Tarttila village near Valkeakoski. The identical-looking dogs wore matching tartan kilts.
“Even our owner cannot tell which is which,” Suomi said while wearing a tartan scarf.
The parade also highlighted friendships formed through dogs. Tanja Piha and Filemon Wolfram met five years ago when their terriers encountered each other on the street. The dogs and their owners became friends and still often go for walks together, although Piha’s Lily is now less willing to let Wolfram’s male dog Albus approach her than she was when they were puppies.
Laura Davies, the British ambassador to Finland, attended the event and said she was pleased to see terriers dressed in tartan and kilts bringing Finnish and Scottish cultures together. The parade has inspired her to get a dog, but she said that is not currently possible because she has a pet rabbit at home.