It is that time of year again! The Greenville Scottish Games are back and I for one will be out there enjoying the sites and sounds this weekend. The festivities start off Friday evening with the GREAT SCOT! PARADE in downtown Greenville. I love watching the Clans come marching down Main Street dressed in all their different tartans. And the pipe bands, there is nothing like the sound of the haunting bagpipes and drums playing, it just calls to my soul and brings goose bumps to my skin. Then there are all the men in kilts! Love men in kilts!! (and yes it's a KILT! If you wear anything under it then it is a skirt!!)
After the parade you can find me at the Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee) enjoying the sounds of the Albannach who is starting off their American tour dates here in Greenville , SC. Albannach is not just another Scottish 'Pipes & Drums' band, they bring a new and exciting form of music with them all the way from Scotland. With a championship winning piper, an extremely talented main drummer, bass drummers and bodhran musicians, Albannach offers you a brand new approach to percussion and Celtic music. With a style of music that is exciting, energetic and enchanting, they promise to leave you begging for more. For a look at Albannach's performance from last years Ceilidh, click on this link and watch the video.
Saturday is the official game day, held at Furman University, with lots of fun and exciting things to do for the entire family. Clans from all over the country are represented at the Games. Stop by the Clan tents to visit with them and perhaps find your own clan connection. Each clan has associated with it a number of other family names, called “septs,” which will be displayed at each clan tent. My Clan connection is Clan Donald, through my greatgrand mother Marie Gill. Gill is one of the many "septs" of Clan Donald. Be sure to get there in time for the Massed Pipe Bands as they come out marching together, playing Scotland the Brave. It is something that is bound to touch your soul even if you have no Scottish heritage to speak of.
There will be Heavy Athletics competitions, Highland Dancing competitions, the First Annual Border Collie Invitational Trials, Pipe Band Championships, as well as Solo Piper & Drummers competitions. You will also find Celtic Mythology tales, Scottish Country Dancing, Harpists and Fiddlers, Long Bow and Axe Thrower demonstrators, and several bands including Albannach and Hunting McLeod. And let's not forget Wee Sotland where all the lads and lassies can go and have fun being a Scots for the day!
I hope to see some of you at the parade and games. If you see me out and about, stop me and say hi.
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