The Gathering - Edinburgh 7/24-7/26 Kilt Nights $ Meet Ups

[Mael Coluim]

Friday at Bow Bar sounds very good!

Saturday though....when is the Clan Parade?

The latest info that I’ve been given there are 6 groups of 1,000 each with the clans in alphabetical order. The Parade is on Saturday and you said, the first group is to muster a 19:15 and depart at 19:45 the last is to muster 20:05 and depart at 20:40. Notice boards at Holyrood Park will provide details. Details are also to be posted at The Gathering web site. I’ve not seen it there, yet.

Looks like I won't make your Saturday night meeting unless you will still be there after the parade.

The clans start to muster at 19:15 and the last group starts the march at 20:40. Being with Clan Sinclair I'm guessing we will be with the last group.
Now getting that many people to walk a mile, I'm guessing an hour?
(

I’ve read the parade is to finish at 2100. Care to bet on that!

After the parade I’m attending the Pageant which is to end at 2300 at which time I'll head to the Bow Bar.

Would you mind if I invite other members of Clan Sinclair?

Of course, not! Bring them.

[Gunnar]

I've got a question and I'm sorry that this hasn't really alot to do with main subject of this thread.

But the thing is that I cant go to the Gathering and I'm really bummed out so I was wondering if there will ever be another Gathering like this in the future?

[Mael Coluim]

Nothing, suceeds like sucess they say Gunnar. Although I know of no plans, if this one goes off well, I'm sure they would be another in the future.

[Phil]

I will be there all day Saturday and hope to meet up then.

[cessna152towser]

But the thing is that I cant go to the Gathering and I'm really bummed out

You're not missing much. There are plenty of other Highland Games and Gatherings in Scotland every year. You will find at least one Highland Games somewhere in Scotland every weekend from May till September. I live just fifty five miles from Edinburgh and the only reason I am planning to go along on the Sunday is to meet up with a few xmarkers and the few members of my clan society who are attending. As a native Scot the way I see it, the only thing that is different about this Edinburgh Gathering is that it has been hyped up outside of Scotland in an attempt to part our overseas visitors from more of their money by bringing them to Edinburgh at the busiest time of the tourist season. As far as I know none of the Scottish xmarkers are taking part in the Saturday parade and I have only seen one Scottish based member (Jimmy) posting that he has bought tickets for the Pageant now that the prices have been reduced. I have already hosted Canadian and American based visitors this year and I am sure they enjoyed their visits to Scotland every bit as much as they would have done if they had waited till the date of the Edinburgh Gathering.

[teamCrawford]

No offense cessna, but for those of us who are attending, you make us out to be suckers or something. I've been to Scotland several times. Each time taking more and more of it's spirit back home with me. And granted, this is the first time that I will be participating in something of this nature. I am more of a "headout and see where I end up" kind of girl when it comes to travelling. Busy cities don't really turn my crank nearly as much as the quiet, lesser known places. However, as soon as I heard about the gathering I knew I had to go.

They way I see it, and the rest of us from out of Scotland itself, this is an opportunity to revel in our heritage along with thousands of others. It's one thing for me to go to Scotland and enjoy it, and for SuzieQ to go and enjoy it, and for JoeBloo to go and enjoy it. But for us all to get together, meet each other and enjoy Scotland together. Well, it's different.

Yes there are games and festivals all the time. I've been to them and enjoyed every minute of them. But in the spirit of trying to get together so many people from so many different places, someplace and some date has to be set as "the" place and time. Edinburgh, with it's amenities is a logical place.

I canni say that I have even been treated rudely in Scotland, or never has anyone acted as though my tourism was a pain in their ****. But the tone of that editorial really made me feel like an incoming intruder. Someone to be avoided. How many other Scots are going to pack themselves off to Spain?

This is my opinion and nothing more, but the more I visit Scotland, the more I believe that Scots take their heavenly country for granted. Since they live there, they may not realise just how much it appeals to others and just how much it means to someone who does not get to see it day in and day out. This of course is true of any person and place, not just Scots. People who live in Colorado often think I am silly for wanting to gather pine cones when I am there, but for me, they are a novelty. For some attending the gathering, this will be their first time back to where they came from. Whether they are expats or just followers of a Scottish lineage on an ancestral tree, Scotland is where they came from and they are proud of it.

It's often been stated, even on this website, that it is often the non-Scots who keep more in tune with the carrying on of their heritage. We're not the ones living there but we're still proud of our Scottishness (however great or small it is) and are not afraid to show it. Yes, a lot of the traditions have been diluted, altered, and over the years sometimes morphed into something totally un-Scottish. Some even wear *gasp* white kilt hose. But in the end, it all originated in Scotland.

[Phil]

Don't be too hard on cessna, team Crawford. I think he was just trying to say that the Edinburgh Gathering is nothing too special here in Scotland so if anyone can't make it this time there are always plenty of others.
I understand where you are coming from too, and it is an excellent excuse to "revel in your heritage" but for most Scots it isn't actually all that big a deal. Most Scottish newspapers are usually pretty cynical anyway about the whole tartan, shortbread, kilts and bagpipes thing and look on it as something that is laid on mainly for the tourists not really the locals.
As for heading off to Spain, well as an Edinburgh resident it can be frustrating trying to go about your business in the city when it is seething with visitors. Especially when you can't get on your bus home because it is already full to capacity with tourists or you are in a rush somewhere and your way is blocked by a crowd pointing at the castle and taking photos. So getting away from it all can seem attractive ... so saying we are a long-suffering lot and usually endure it all patiently.

[AcuteEnigma]

This Gathering is different from your average, every weekend, gathering because 140 Clan Chiefs will be there.

Tell me which other games can offer that?

There are at least 133 Clan Tents. Armstrong is listed as no tent, but I'm sure I read that they had a tent.
Which other games has even half as many clan tents?

140 Clan Chiefs all in one place and you're going to try and convince me this is not special?

You could not do so in a million years.

Let's do the commercial:

A Gold Passport games, a parade, a show and discounts at 40 local pubs -
$200.00

A hotel room which I would have to pay for any place I visited in the UK-
$500.00

5 days of food & drink with friends I know and friends I haven't met yet -
$ who cares lol

Partying with 140 Clan Chiefs and 40,000 people who love clans and a clan parade with thousands of people in tartan marching through the medieval streets of Edinburgh-

ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grumpy people are welcome to stay home and pull weeds.

[beowulf67]

I may be able to make it to the Saturday meet up at Talkisker tent, and after the parade/pagent at Castle Bar. I hope to get to at least one of these and meet up with some fine Xmarkers.

[cessna152towser]

140 Clan Chiefs all in one place and you're going to try and convince me this is not special? ...........................
Grumpy people are welcome to stay home and pull weeds

.
Nope, I am not being grumpy and sorry if it seems that way.
From a Scots point of view clan chiefs are not exactly media celebs here and I suspect that most of them are heads of overseas based clan societies rather than hereditary clan chiefs, this is certainly the case with my own clan society.
No criticism of those who are coming, nor do I see you as suckers.
Its rather like me last year when I read on xmarks that the South Ontario Kilt Society were planning a visit to Canadian Warplane Heritage I just had to be there with them because my late father served in Canada during World War 2 with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. For me this was the biggest adventure for several years yet for those at SOKS it was just another kilt meet, though they made it very special for me.
So too for you guys, to march up the Royal Mile and to meet up in Edinburgh, of course it is something special for you and I am glad you are coming to Scotland to do it, but for me it would be meaningless as I could get to Edinburgh within two hours and march up the Royal Mile wearing a kilt any day of the year if I wanted to.
The highland games in Holyrood Park which I plan to attend on the Sunday, yes I am looking forward to meeting you all but I see it as just another highland games, one with an added bonus of meeting some xmarkers I have not met before and I will most certainly want to make you feel very welcome as special guests in Scotland. Yes I do expect to see rather more clan tents than usual at a Scottish games, its not a thing we go in much for here, in fact it would be very unusual to see more than two or three clan tents at a Scottish games, we had just one (Turnbull) at our local games last month, so to that extent it will be a wee bit different.
It is just we see things from a different perspective here and the point I was making to Gunnar was that he should not be too disappointed about missing the Edinburgh gathering as there would be other opportunities to attend highland games and gatherings and to meet with the Scottish based xmarkers.