Festival-goers trace local roots

About 2.5 million people are thought to have Dundee and Angus ancestry

People from around the world are aiming to unlock the secrets of their ancestors during a trip to Tayside.

Visitors from places including the US, Australia, Canada and the UK are involved in the first Angus and Dundee Roots Festival.

They will attend workshops on local surnames and tracing family histories and will visit graveyards and historic tourist attractions over the next week.

Organisers are aiming to cash in on the growing ancestral tourism market.

It is estimated that there are about 2.5 million people with Dundee and Angus ancestry across the world.

'Grow substantially'

Those taking part in the festival can attend talks on the whaling and jute sectors and tour places such as the Angus Folk Museum, Glamis Castle and Arbroath Abbey.

One woman from Australia is aiming to uncover the truth about the death of a relative who 'fell' from the Tay Bridge and drowned in 1874. She believes he could have been murdered.

There will be visits to places such as Arbroath Abbey and Glamis Castle

Many of the delegates have been researching their family history for decades.

Gillian Harrower, from the Angus and Dundee Ancestral Tourism Initiative, said: "There are some who know their ancestors were involved in the building of the Tay Bridge, others whose ancestors worked at Glamis Castle, some who worked at Verdant Works, others who are looking for particular grave stones.

"Quite often they've reached a brick wall in their family history search and they've got back so far and they're just looking for a wee bit of assistance to put that final brick in place, but others are looking to find places, houses or specific streets."

Ms Harrower believes it is important to make the most of the increasing interest in family history.

She said: "Ancestral tourism generally accounts for about 200,000 trips a year to Scotland, but we estimate it will grow substantially to probably 800,000 trips over the next five years."