Brigadoon 2013 -The Bundanoon Highland Gathering

Brigadoon 2013 -The Bundanoon Highland Gathering

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Posted 2012-12-08 by Stella Bella follow
Enjoy the best of Scotland with a "wee" bit of Aussie flavour





Every year in April, the little town Bundanoon would be flooded with people from all regions to come and experience all things Scottish. The Bundanoon would be changed into Brigadoon, known as the Bundanoon Highland Gathering, the largest annual event in Southern Highland region, which will encapsulate all the unique cultural features from charming Scotland - pipe bands, traditional games, the clans, tartans and dancing - it would be an ultimate family fun day out.







We have experienced the Scottish festival, as we called it in 2012. The Brigadoon was kicked off with a Street Parade at 9:30am. Hundreds of people gathered around the streets, watching 20 pipe bands passing by with hundreds of marchers wearing traditional Scottish tartans, colourful floats, accompanied by a vintage car show. The massed bands will perform at different times during the whole day.

At 10:30am, an eminent clan leader from Australia or Scotland will announce the official opening ceremony. I remembered we all sang the National Anthems while watching the Southern Star Flag raising in the middle of the ground, followed by a round of applause from the mass crowd.





As it was so early in the morning, I got myself a Scottish haggis sandwich as breakfast, something unusual to warm me up in a cold autumn morning. By the time when I got back to our base ground, I watched a mass demonstration of Scottish country and Highland dancing, accompanied by traditional Scottish folk music.

It was very interesting to find out that most of the dancers were high school students from local schools and some of them are from local Scottish Folk Dance club. After the demonstration, at the "Dashing White Sergeant", the audience was invited to come and join the dancers; this was something I wouldn't miss out. It actually was not as easy as I thought, it took a bit of effort to dance with a group of people, where everyone had to accommodate each others' paces, steps and rhymes and tried to make the dance moves more coordinated and harmonious.

After warming up with all the dancing, the arena was divided into several sections to get ready for long expected excitement, the traditional Scottish games - from cable tossing to egg throwing, from the hay toss to kilted dash, it was an eye opening experience for people of all ages.

There was even the not-so-traditional water-filled balloon throwing. I joined a group of kids at this game and ended up getting myself so wet that I had to get changed after the game. If you don't want to get wet in a chilling morning on an autumn day, maybe you had better be a bystander than a thrower.

The most hilarious part of the game was the kilted dash. I couldn't help laughing when seeing a bunch of tough guys competing on the arena wearing traditional kilts. It was just not something you would expect to see everyday. All the games are categorised as adult or juniors alike and the visitors were encouraged to join the fun if they wanted to try something different or challenge themselves. Even if not, it was still great fun to just be a bystander.

When we found it hard to move around in the crowd, we decided to wander around all the interesting stalls. There was a section beside the main arena, where you could meet people from different family backgrounds in Scotland and you could even track down your own ones if you are of Scottish heritage and learn something about your own family history. Each family has its own kilt design pattern.

There were about nearly 100 stalls dotted around the main arena. We did some souvenir shopping at the Scottish shortbread stall and purchased several packages of homemade scottish fingers. Some of my friends bought some silver Celtic jewellery at some of the craft and jewellery stalls and a really good quality leather wallet at a traditional handmade leather goods stall. Our biggest challenge was to decide what lunch we wanted as there were numerous food stalls. As it was a gathering of all things Scottish, we decided to have something Scottish, such as Scot pies, blood pudding and square sausages. It was my first time tasting the blood pudding - it is now it was crossed off from my 'Exotic Food Tasting Bucket List.'







After all the shopping, we had a rest at the Fiddler's Tent with some great piece of traditional Scottish country music played by a group of funky fiddlers. There were also a Lost Child Tent to help the lost children finding their parents among the big crowd, meanwhile when they were waiting for their parents to come to pick them up, they could have some play time with a hippie crown who claimed to be the Chief of the tent.



The day culminated at the Brigadoon Heavyweight Challenges. There were three types of the games to watch: heavyweight caber throwing, tossing the weight over the bar for height and weight and throwing the weight for distance. The crowd would cheer for a successful attempt and sighed for the failed ones, there was a suspended thrilling atmosphere like watching an action movie.



We are expecting the Southern Highland Gathering be back on Saturday, 6 April, 2013. As they state, rain or shine, the games will be on! For the updated program for 2013, please visit their official website here .

My Tips for you to Better Enjoy the Bridagoon

1. From my past experience with the festival, I suggest you be there before 8:30am, which can help you to find a parking spot after beating the huge crowd who have arrived much earlier than you. Parking signs are displayed from the entrance

2. There are two entry points to get you into the main show arena, so if you are going to meet your friends there, better check which entrance first to avoid confusion.

3. The program brochure can be purchased at the gate or at the information stall.

4. Get your cash ready for the day, you don't want to waste you time lining up at a long queue at the ATM machine and miss out some exciting games.

5. Dress to the theme, be a Scottish on the day.

6. If you plan to stay overnight at Bundanoon, make sure you book your accommodation as soon as possible. And don't forget to make a trip to the Glow Worm Glen at night time, the major natural attraction in Bundanoon region.

7. Tickets are available at the gate, but mainly cash payment, otherwise you can purchase your ticket online at their official website.

8. Pack your picnic bag and bring your foldable chairs, there are no chairs available around the arena.

#attractions
#cultural_events
#april
#festivals
#greater_sydney
%wnsydney
179347 - 2023-06-15 22:01:42

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