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It may not have been as bone-chillingly cold as a Scottish mid-winter day can be.
But Melbourne’s weather on Sunday had just enough wind and drizzle to make for an authentic Melbourne Tartan Festival, the city’s annual salute to Scottish culture.
Amber Lim, in red, shows off her dancing skills.Credit: Luis Ascui
Dancers, poets and Scottish terrier dogs made for some bonnie celebrations in the CBD, and there was even a wee bit of sunshine.
The dome of Block Arcade in Collins Street was almost raised by the City of Melbourne Highland Pipe Band’s performance before curious tourists and dewy-eyed descendants of Scots.
In the Treasury Gardens, there was more bagpipe playing and readings under the statue of Scottish poet Robbie Burns.
Amber Lim, 9, of Parkville, was one of the Scottish Highland dancers who performed on the steps outside the Treasury Building in Spring Street.
Dancers perform outside the Treasury Building.Credit: Luis Ascui
Her mother, I-Ling Lai, said Amber, whose parents are Singaporean and Malaysian, took up the pursuit at age four and has since competed in three states.
“I’m so proud of her,” Lai said. “She practises at home, watching her reflection on the glass sliding door and the TV. It’s amazing to see. If they’re in love with something, they just do it naturally.”
Later, Lord Mayor Sally Capp, former Premier Ted Baillieu and Simon Abney-Hastings — aka the Earl of Loudoun — led a march down Collins Street of over 200 pipers, drummers and dancers.
The City of Melbourne Highland Pipe Band music director Campbell Wilson, who lived in Edinburgh for a year, said Sunday’s Melbourne weather was “a very balmy day comparatively, it’s quite a mild 12 or 13 degrees” compared to snowy or wet Scottish winters.
The Tartan Festival in full swing.Credit: Luis Ascui
Once, just outside the Scottish capital, Wilson played at a concert in torrential rain. “It was bucketing down,” he said.
Wilson, 44, a teacher, has been a band member since 1991, when he was 12 years old.
James Watson, dressed in his best black pinstriped kilt, suit jacket and fur sporran, watched proudly as his son Jack, 17, performed with the band.
James, from Dumfries and Galloway region in southern Scotland, was thrilled when his son “Jackie” took up the bagpipes three years ago.
The festival’s aim is to share Scottish culture and heritage with the wider Victorian community.Credit: Luis Ascui
James said that when he hears pipe music he feels emotional and inspired. “I love it. It’s just a fantastic instrument.”
Onlooker Chris Thomson, 73, who migrated to Australia with his family from Scotland as a baby, came across the march with his wife Lisa.
They were walking their feisty black Scottish terriers George, Zara and Gladys, who barked excitedly when the bagpipes passed by.
“It’s fantastic, I love it,” Thomson said, of the march, “Who doesn’t like the bagpipes?”
It was the fourth physical Melbourne Tartan Festival since 2018 and director Carol Davis says it has grown from four days to a month in duration, with fiddle concerts, Gaelic language classes, a Ceilidh (dance night) and film screenings.
The event is held at this time of year to commemorate the repeal on July 1, 1782, of the British Act of Proscription, meaning that highland dress, including the kilt, could once again be worn.
The festival’s aim is “to share Scottish culture and heritage with the wider Victorian multicultural community”, Davis said. “Many of the participants are not necessarily Scottish. They come from all cultural backgrounds.”
Festival events later this month include a concert of Scots songs featuring performer Fiona Ross at Kew Court House on July 16, and a gala dinner and concert at Melbourne Town Hall on July 22.
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