Saint Andrews day is Scotland's national day and it brings to a close "The Year of Homecoming." Forty major events around the country celebrate this important year for the Scottish people. Homecoming director Torquil Macleod tells us more.

[Torquil Macleod, Homecoming Program Manager]:
"For 2009 we were going to have a big celebration anyway because it is the 250th anniversary of our cultural and poetic icon, Robert Burns. So we decided to extend it out a bit, make it more of a year and we've made it into a big celebration of Scotland's great contributions to the world."

The Art Car Parade is one of the events happening over the weekend to entertain the crowds.

[Torquil Macleod, Homecoming Program Manager]:
"This is the fantastic Art Car Parade. I'm sure you can see the big motorbike behind me here and this is going to process down through the city streets and ending up in St. Andrews Square. We've got a stage and a little concert going on there, but we pass by Edinburgh's Winter Wonderland which is the Big wheel and there's the ice rink.”

Another event, The Burnsong project finale concert was held at the Scottish parliament. The initiative was started in 2005 to celebrate the legacy of Robert Burns and stimulate the writing of new songs in Scotland.

[Ronnie Gurr, Chairman, Artistic Director, Burnsong]:
"It's really what writers need: the time and space to work collaboratively and reciprocally. And so I'm delighted that we at Burnsong are in a position to facilitate that."

A song writer with Afro-Caribean-Celtic roots, Lisa Rigby talks about her Burnsong entry.

[Lisa Rigby, Burnsong Finalist]:
"You're thinking of Robert Burns, you're thinking of Scotland,  you're thinking of the Homecoming, so with that in mind I started thinking about home and the cheesy kind of line ‘Hey, Honey I'm home!’ sprung into my head. But then I mucked around with it, you know, what is home? How do we get there? How do we get home, because for many people it is a different thing. On the one level, say Scotland, there's lots of people who have travelled here over the centuries, from all over the globe, who now call Scotland home. This is our multicultural heritage."

Famous Scottish inventions include Television, Golf and Whiskey.

Stefan Byfield, NTD, Edinburgh, Scotland.