This year’s Strathmore Highland Games at Glamis Castle are set to be the biggest ever.
The annual event takes place on Sunday June 10 and the committee has been working hard to enhance its programme and the offerings on the field this year.
The traditional spectacle will kick off at 11am, with the official opening by the Chieftain, the 19th Earl of Strathmore, at noon, where he will take the salute from the pipe bands.
The bands will form up at the front of Glamis Castle then march into the field in a flurry of tartan and pipes as they compete for the best turned out band accolade on the day.
Lorna Cochrane of the Strathmore committee, said: “The day will encompass all the traditional highland games events, with a busy programme of competitions for our cyclists and runners, highland dancers, solo-pipers and pipe bands, and the hotly contested heavies, junior heavies and tug of war competitions as well; there will be a very busy main ring to keep everyone entertained throughout the day.
“The games are run by a dedicated committee of local volunteers and this year we’re really making our event ‘local’.
“The Strathmore Highland Games have signed up to the Taste of Angus Charter, an initiative run by Angus Council and Visit Angus that aims to encourage local food businesses in Angus to source their ingredients locally.
“For us, as an event, our pledge is that we want to showcase Angus to all the visitors to our games – we are all spoilt to have some amazing producers of some of the finest food and drink in Scotland right on our doorstep.
“We can’t wait to share that with our visitors.”
Also this year there will be a new spirits of Angus area showcasing some of the finest alcohol produced in the county.
Lorna said: “We feel that highland games and a welcoming wee dram have always gone well together, and so this new feature to the games is a great fit.
“Once again lots of local craft folks and others from further afield will be joining us to share their wares, along with children’s races, ice-cream and other amusements to keep the wee ones entertained.
“It makes for a great family day out.”
A Junior Highland Games event will also take place on Thursday, featuring 300 primary children.
