Extravaganza will provide huge boost to Inverness economy
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IT will be a party like Inverness has never seen before!
Today the Courier can exclusively reveal details of a bumper weekend of festivities this summer which should be a good old Highland knees-up.
Organisers have come up with a vastly expanded programme of events to coincide with the city’s annual Highland Games.
Thousands descend on the Highland capital every July to enjoy the traditional gathering, including fiercely-contested Heavy competitions and displays of piping and Highland dancing.
Even bigger crowds are expected this year as a range of exciting new events have been unveiled, including a Proud Ness parade, an inaugural Ruff Ness contest for dogs and their owners, a Well Ness Show and a music gig showcasing four top young emerging bands.
With more attractions set to be announced in May following behind-the-scenes talks with other organisations, the weekend promises to deliver a huge boost to the city’s economy and profile.
Highland Council’s Inverness events manager Gerry Reynolds said the games committee and city’s events and festivals working group had been working for some time to develop the programme around the Highland Games.
“This is going to take it a whole new level,” he said. “There will be an eclectic mix of things happening.”
The festivities will kick off on Friday, July 19 at the Northern Meeting Park with pipe band and Highland dance performances, plus a strongest man and strongest woman contest, as a prelude to Saturday’s games at Bught Park. The opening ceremony will include a mass Highland Fling and the induction of the entire Inverness Legion Pipes and Drums Band, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, into the event’s Hall of Fame.
During the day, a top-class field of Heavies will compete in displays of strength including attempting to lift the 252lb Inverness Stonemason’s Stone over a 5ft high bar – a unique event dating back to The True Highland Games in 1822.
This year, all under-12s will get free entry on games day and there will be a new multi-event competition for junior athletes.
Attractions in the show field, which contains Scotland’s biggest inter-clan gathering, include a car show with more than 100 vehicles already signed up, a craft fair, fun fair, traders, Armed Forces displays and solo piping competitions.
The weekend continues with the free Inverness Gala returning to its traditional Sunday afternoon slot when various events will be staged simultaneously at Bught Park.
They include a Pride parade following the success of the inaugural Proud Ness event organised by the LGBT community in October.
Thousands of marchers are expected to be joined along the way by participants in a sponsored walk for mental health charity Mikeysline, plus dogs and their owners taking part in Ruff Ness which will feature fun competitions.
Games chieftain and city Provost Helen Carmichael thanked everyone involved in helping to pull everything together.
“Our expanded games and gala weekend programme is filled with activities and events for everybody to enjoy and is the result of many months of work behind the scenes to create something very special indeed,” she said.
“The weekend will provide a wonderful opportunity for us to highlight the very best that we have to offer here in Inverness to locals and visitors alike while delivering a much appreciated boost to both our city’s profile and economy.”
