This FIFA World Cup season, Americans are falling in love with the Tartan Army, the Scottish soccer team's traveling fan club that tore through Boston and Miami's beer supply and filled their streets with bagpipes.
They're known for their motto, "No Scotland: No Party," as well as placing traffic cones on local statues — and cleaning up after themselves.
Dunedin, though, is a long-time Celtic cultural stronghold. Edinburgh merchants founded the Pinellas County city in the late 1800s, and today, residents compete in their very own annual Highland Games.
Thursday night, Amber Ferguson wore her family kilt in exchange for a free pint at Dunedin Brewery — which isn't an uncommon deal.
Following social media rumors, she and her friends held out hope that the hard-partying, but well-behaved, Tartan Army may make an appearance in their hometown.
"They just seem like happy, friendly people," Ferguson said. "It's a beautiful country — you just grow up loving it here."
Lynn Gadue, who joined Ferguson in the kilt-wearing action, agreed. She's Irish, and she said she fell in love with Dunedin's Celtic heritage when she moved from Connecticut.
Later in the evening, pub patrons made their way across the street for the Dunedin Tide showcase, where young musicians from ages 8 to 17 showed off their piping and drumming chops.
Parker, a Dunedin Highland Middle School student who plays the practice chanter, wasn't convinced the Tartan Army would show.
"It's mainly social media rumors," he said. "We'd know if they were coming."
Those rumors picked up after Scotland's upset loss against Morocco across the state last week.
Ahead of that game, a lookalike of William Wallace from Braveheart led a singsong in a downtown Miami pub, and Florida sports journalist Florida Grand speculated the Tartan Army might make their way north to Dunedin.
Even Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Dunedin native, urged the Army to come. The speculation reached a fever pitch on Thursday — the New World Celts and the city of Dunedin posted a Facebook invitation, and the Dunedin Blue Jays' minor league team offered Scottish fans $5 tickets to their weekend games.
Janette Pomeroy is president of the New World Celts, a nonprofit that promotes the Celtic arts in the Tampa Bay area and beyond. The Dunedin branch is the founding member of seven Florida chapters, and they fund scholarships for the Dunedin Tide summer camp.
Pomeroy said Celtic culture has a broad appeal that transcends family lineage — for example, one of Dunedin's most active New World Celts is Puerto Rican.
"We're a very giving culture," she said. "People tend to like to be around us — we love singing and dancing and just enjoying life."
Pomeroy added Dunedin already has its own Tartan Army of sorts. The tartan-clad Barbarians at the Gate volunteer at Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and Day of the Dead events.
"It's a great community," Pomeroy said of Dunedin. "Everybody helps each other out."
Stephen Boston's parents moved from Scotland to the United States just before World War II.
Boston isn't a soccer fan, and while he didn't know about the Tartan Army before this year, he found himself watching Scotland's recent game against Brazil at the Scottish American Society of Dunedin.
He said the World Cup, as a whole, has been a chance for unexpected connections across cultures.
"The world got to see the United States in a different light through the World Cup," Boston said. "I mean, I have friends up in Boston hanging out in bar rooms with these Scottish people they'll never see again. It's just one, big, happy family."
Hamish Husband, a Tartan Army spokesperson, says most fans were likely heading home as the team's knockout round chances continue to dim.
However, he told WUSF the warm welcome the U.S. gave them had restored some of his fellow fans' faith in American culture.
"You all have brought America back to Scotland," he said.
