Piping of the Tartan parade marches through downtown Kincardine Saturday morning

The majestic sound of the pipes and drums could be heard in downtown Kincardine as the Piping of the Tartan parade marched from the Kincardine Legion to Victoria Park, Saturday morning.

The event, led by the Teeswater Highlanders Pipe Band and John Farrell of the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band, was promoting the Kincardine Scottish Festival and Highland Games, slated for July 3-5, in Victoria Park.

Janice Griffith, festival manager, said the Piping of the Tartan was a joint effort amongst the festival organizers, the Kincardine Business Improvement Area (BIA), the chamber of commerce and Kincardine Tourism.

Volunteers marched in the parade, carrying about a dozen tartan banners which were borrowed from Knox Presbyterian Church, Kincardine, said Griffith. The banners are used for the annual Kirkin' of the Tartan event held on the Sunday of the Kincardine Scottish Festival.

"The Piping of the Tartan is the official kick-off to the summer tourist season and a promotion for the festival," said Griffith. "It's also part of the branding of Kincardine's Scottish heritage."

Following the parade, everyone gathered at the gazebo in Victoria Park where Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie, welcomed the small crowd on such a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning.

"The festival committee is hoping to have the same kind of weather in a couple of weeks," she said. "Even if you don't have a Scottish bone in your body, everyone wants to be Scottish during the festival. I'm practising my Gaelic so I can say 'Bruidhuinn Gaidhlig Rium' (Talk Gaelic To Me) on the weekend, and I'm going to learn some other phrases at the festival."

She said there will be lots of workshops, activities and things to see and do at the festival. She cautioned that whatever you learn, know your audience before you perform.

"Both my grandfathers were Scottish but only one was still around when I was learning to play the piano, and he was always asking when I was going to learn to play 'Road to the Isles' and 'My Bonnie Lassie'," said Eadie. "I had learned a very difficult classical piece of music and played it for him but all he wanted to know was when I was going to play 'Road to the Isles'."

Jan Johnstone, vice-chairperson of the festival, welcomed the crowd and said there will be 30 pipe bands in competition this year. And the big event is the East Coast Celtic Concert, featuring Ashley MacIsaac and the Barra MacNeils.

Griffith urged people to check out the souvenir table which, for the first time, has Kincardine Scottish Festival T-shirts for sale.



The Teeswater Highlanders Pipe Band and John Farrell of the Kincardine Scottish, lead the Piping of the Tartan parade through downtown Kincardine to Victoria Park, Saturday morning