Dundee Fortnight
Encyclopedia
The Dundee Fortnight is a holiday
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...

 during the last week in July and first week in August in the city of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The holiday is similar to the Glasgow Fair
Glasgow Fair
The Glasgow Fair is a holiday during the last fortnight in July in the city of Glasgow Scotland. 'The Fair' is the oldest of a number of similar holidays, dating from the 12th century...

 in that, until as recently as the 1960s, most local businesses and factories would close for these two weeks and workers and their families would crowd bus and railway stations and Fifie
Fifie
The Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland. It was a traditional fishing boat used by Scottish fishermen from the 1850s until well into the 20th century...

s to go for holidays in destinations such as Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...

 and Broughty Ferry
Broughty Ferry
Broughty Ferry is a suburb on the eastern side of the City of Dundee, on the shore of the Firth of Tay in eastern Scotland...

. The holiday was of special significance to the working class of the city, especially as all the jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....

 and textiles factories were closed during this time.

Nowadays, fewer local businesses close down for the Fortnight, although it is still common for people to go on holiday at this time, and the city can be noticeably quieter, although another factor in this could be that the city's large number of students do not attend University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

over the summer. Some services are reduced during the Fortnight. For instance, some buses were running on a Sunday schedule and libraries were closed during the first day in 2009 (Monday 27 July).
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