BC Highland Games and Scottish Festival 2016

[imrichmond]

I was there, too. It was one of the wettest, coldest, most miserable days I've spent at highland games, and I've been attending highland games for well over 50 years, including more than a few in inclement weather. The rain was so heavy by noon, that the opening massed band performance had to be cancelled. Band competitions in the afternoon took place under a sort of open tent with barely enough shelter for the band and the judges. We spectators, distressingly few in number, stood around the edges in the pouring rain. I heard some excellent grade 4 band performances, notably from the Keith Highlanders, the Kamloops Pipe Band (sounded more like a grade 3 band) and the Greater Victoria Police, but finally, with my argyll jacket soaked through, my borrowed umbrella starting to spring some serious leaks, and a wind starting to blow the rain at a nasty angle I gave up around 2:45 pm and left. My band wasn't playing that day and my students had competed in their solo comps early in the morning. One of the day's bright points was the Aussie veggie pie I had for lunch. It was delicious. The beer tent was uncharacteristically deserted but for 4 or 5 hardy souls, probably because it consisted of several pop-up 10 x 10 shelters with torrents of water splashing down through the gaps between them and soaking the tables and chairs and anyone foolish enough to sit there. This didn't reduce the price of the beer, however. Alas, we can't pick the weather and it was just rotten luck that Saturday was one of the rainiest, coolest (11-12 degrees Celsius) days we've had this season. One good thing was that the park in which the games were held is fitted with artificial turf and a synthetic track, which meant that we at least didn't have to contend with mushy ground and mud. The day before the games, the weather had been absolutely glorious as a bandmate and I enjoyed the scenic drive and (two) ferry rides from Powell River to Vancouver. Oh well, next year can only be better.