'Tartan tat' stalls sellers at kilt contest

Published on Wednesday 13 August 2008 10:49

STALLHOLDERS were disqualified from a competition at a Scottish festival in Holland after they were found to be selling kilts provided by the Capital's Gold Bros.

The Scottish Tartans Authority was due to hand out a prize for the best stall at the Scotfest event in Tilburg.

But director Brian Wilton was forced to ban some competitors after they were found to be selling cheap imported kilts supplied by the Edinburgh-based purveyors of so-called "tartan tat".

Mr Wilton said he was shocked to discover merchandise belonging to the Gold Bros, who own shops in the Royal Mile.

He said: "It had the same Gold Bros' branded labels, advertising 'genuine woven tartan' or 'genuine Scottish' when much of it is produced in Pakistan and sourced at the same factories as the Gold Bros stores on the Royal Mile.

"We believe these goods are damaging to the Scottish economy and are eroding our heritage, so any stalls found selling the goods were automatically disqualified."