worst-run Highland Games ever!

**OC Richard** · 17th February 13, 05:31 AM

I went to the Queen Mary Scottish Festival yesterday and they were the worst-run Games I have ever attended.

I've been going to Games for nearly 40 years. I've been to nearly all the California Games, several Games in the Eastern US, and a few different Games in Scotland, but The Queen Mary yesterday took the cake.

The first crazy thing was right after I got there. I bought my ticket (my band isn't playing there this year) and walked through the main Games area towards the boat where the solo piping competition is always held.

There was a security guy there on the stairs leading onto the boat telling people that if they passed by him, they couldn't return that way, but would have to leave by another route and go all the way around the village to re-enter the Games there. Trouble is, once you left the Games you couldn't re-enter without buying a new ticket! Yes it would cost $22 to go listen to the solo piping and return to the main Games area!

The weather got warm and I was going to go out to my car to put my jacket away, but no! If you left the Games through the main gate you had to buy a new ticket to re-enter! $22 per visit to your car!

The ridiculous thing is, is that they had handstamps, but would only stamp the hands of people with "participant" tickets (vendors, performers, competitiors). Us poor people who had paid full price to enter couldn't get their hands stamped!

I heard that these issues didn't have anything to do with the people running the Games, but were solely the fault of the management of the boat.

I happened to see the guy who is the manager of the boat (they made him honorary Chieftan!) and complained about having to buy a new ticket to move about the Games or to re-enter the Games. He claimed that he knew nothing about this issue. But the security people were enforcing the no-re-enter thing.

**Jock Scot** · 17th February 13, 05:34 AM

Pssst, the Queen Mary is a ship!

I wonder if this years heavy handed management will affect next year's attendance?

**Father Bill** · 17th February 13, 05:42 AM

Has any of these rocket scientists ever considered running for elected office?

**cessna152towser** · 17th February 13, 07:33 AM

Bad form indeed. Normal practice is to use handstamps to permit re-entry for everyone.
Only time I have had a similar experience was the Edinburgh gathering fiasco of 2009. I had paid two £15 tickets in advance, only one of which I was able to use as my since deceased wife had taken ill before the event. I handed the two tickets to the security guard and walked in. The guard called me back and said only holders of laminated tickets were allowed in this way, handed back the tickets and told me I would need to go round the outside to another entrance. At the other gate there was a queue. I got talking to an elderly couple in the queue and found that they still needed to buy two tickets when they reached the gate so I gave them my spare ticket. So the jobsworth behaviour of the security guard cost the organisers £15, no wonder the event lost so much money!!

**llyd** · 17th February 13, 07:51 AM

there is nothing like the mentality of the small mind allowed a bit of authority....

**sydnie7** · 17th February 13, 10:48 AM

Sorry to hear of your experiences. Bob and I attended the QM festival several years ago and were also disappointed, although for different reasons. You'd think that ship would be a wonderful Games venue, but we found it poorly laid-out and just not very "festive." There are other Games in the greater SoCal area that we thoroughly enjoy so have not been back to the QM since.

See you at Vista, Richard! BTW we were watching Rick Steves on PBS last night and were struck by his resemblance to you (or v.v.).