The first Orillia Scottish Festival since 2019 attracted thousands to Couchiching Beach Park on Saturday.
Bagpipers marched down Mississaga Street at noon to officially kick off the 44th edition of the festival. Shortly after, mass bands played in the main field, followed by Scottish country dancing.
Festival co-chair Carrie Dunn says the event has been a huge hit this year.
“The parade route was full and so is the park,” she said. “We had a great turnout for the pipes and drums and the colour parties. The beer tent seems to be full. The vendors are doing really well … We just can’t complain.”
Dunn was pleased to see nine bands in the park — a positive starting point to build off of coming out of two years of the pandemic.
“We’ve definitely had more over the years. We’ve also had less,” she said. “I know some bands aren’t up and running yet and others have amalgamated so they could come today, which is fantastic. Getting everyone here has been great.”
Mayor Steve Clarke was wearing a traditional Scottish kilt during the event. This was his sixth time attending the festival as mayor.
“It’s always a great community event that brings thousands of people here,” he said. “It’s particularly special this year because we are just getting back to hosting these kinds of events comfortably.”
While Clarke’s heritage is mostly Irish, he was happy to wear the kilt Saturday.
“I love this day because it’s a celebration around a feel-good community event,” he said. “It’s a celebration of a significant part of our history.”
The festival is organized each year by a committee of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 34. Branch president Rick Purcell says it’s important for the Legion to continue those efforts.
“A lot of these bands and people here today are retired military people,” he said. “We are here to support them, the Scottish festival, and our band Orillia Pipes and Drums.”
Purcell says band members enjoy interacting with each other and sharing stories about their time in the military.
“It’s a great event,” he said. “We get all the colour parties together. We get all the bands together. It’s good for everybody.”
He was delighted to see so many people at the park Saturday.
“We haven’t had an event like this in two years,” he said. “We have more people coming because they missed it. This is one of the biggest turnouts I’ve seen.”
The festival officially closes Sunday with breakfast at the Trail Walk Café at the Legion. The Canada Pipes and Drums will also be at the Legion for a special performance at 1:30 p.m.
