WHA'S LIKE US? DAMN FEW, WE'RE THE BEST
This was an outstanding Brigadoon, one of the best for years, the weather was extremely kind to us and once again the sound of the pipes could be heard from early morning wafting across the town and as usual all roads lead to the magical town of Brigadoon
With the weather on our side the crowds started to roll in, the first cars queuing up at 6.30am to get parking, then the coaches, with the ever increasing numbers soon the town was alive and ready to go. Brigadoon was to live up to its reputation of the "Ideal family friendly fun day out"
The crowd for the day has been estimated at approximately 14000 visitors, several thousand more that previous years, what a terrific result for Brigadoon.
A real coup for Brigadoon and a huge hit with the spectators on the day was the introduction of Highlander Celtic Rock Band from Newcastle, they were exceptional, this was Celtic music at its very best, but with an entirely different sound, the sound of ROCK.
The group consisted of the usual bagpipes but this was accompanied by electric and acoustic Guitars, electric Fiddle and drums, the end result was marvellous and had the crowds rocking on the oval
This is a show not to be missed; they received a tremendous response from the very appreciative audience, their rendition of Flower of Scotland had the crowd in full voice, and the finale Auld Lang Syne was just an ideal way to end a day of truly highland entertainment
The band have just released the maiden CD and it was snatched up like hotcakes.
Needless to say they will certainly be a part of Brigadoon for some time to come.
As usual we had a magnificent display of traditional pipe band music. There were 22 bands in total, over 500 performers, what a great turnout for the gathering , we really appreciate the time and effort put in by those bands who make the annual pilgrimage to perform so well for us.
The street parade was a wonderful sight, a procession of bands playing such a broad variety of music that really entertained the spectators.
However the best was yet to come, at the opening ceremony the audience were treated to an outstanding massed band display, an advance in full strength all 22 bands at once was a sight to behold, and not to be out done the closing ceremony was just as impressive with the lone piper Sam Young from NSW Police Pipe band giving us a fitting end to what was a great days performance.
Congratulations must be given to the senior drum major of the day Gavin Kearney, from Canberra and the Brigadoon bands coordinator for choreographing these displays
The Tartan Warriors lived up to its reputation of being a major attraction at Brigadoon, with the anticipated challenge by Derek Boyer coming back to throw down the gauntlet to the resident champion and others, the writing was on the wall, this was going to be good.
Derek Boyer certainly outclassed his three competitors in the NAB Stones of Manhood when he lifted the sandstone balls weighing from 100kgs to 165kgs as though they were lightweight medicine balls on to the tops of full size whisky barrels.
Only Craig Reid was able to lift all five stones but Derek did it in the fastest time.
This is the fifth time Derek has won the event and it was a fitting farewell as he was cheered with loud encouragement from the huge crowd. Derek is taking up a career as a movie actor.
Another factor in our day was to be the largest water bottle FREE event in the world, as the world is aware Bundy on Tap caused a major sensation when they announced that there would be no more bottled water sold in Bundanoon.
Brigadoon has supported this cause and our gathering became bottled water free, and it was a total success.
With the cooperation of Culligans Water we were able to ensure that free water was available to all our visitors, even those that brought their own bottled water were allowed to refill without charge.
Our sincere thanks to the members of BoT and of course the Brigadoon committee who are changing the way people think about bottled water, what a win for the environment.
Well done all.
DATE FOR THE DIARY
2nd APRIL 2011
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Pipe Band Parade - Pitlochry Highland Gamesby dronechorus15,410 views
Great Video!!
TheHighlandPiper 1 year ago
@TheHighlandPiper
Thank you, we try and promote our Scottish culture to all parts of the glode and it looks like we are succeeding.
By the way like you own site great stuff
BundanoonGathering 1 year ago