Top Musicians To Perform At Inverness Highland Games
This City of Inverness Highland Games Committee has announced details of the five new musical events that have been added to this year’s Games programme. The action will get underway on Friday 22 July when the Inverness Youth Forum will host the eve of Games " Pro-teen Party" for younger teenagers in Downtown USA at Inverness Ice Centre.
The event will showcase six of the very best local teenage bands and will feature Ursulas Bikini, Findo Gask, Fallow, Echo 20, E.K.O. and Blind Check.
Tickets for the Party will cost £2 each and will be available from the North 57 and Mania outlets in Inverness from July 1st.
Hootananny’s Celidh Bar in Inverness will be hosting two family musical events in the giant Tulloch’s Clan Village Marquee on the eve and night of the Games offering a diverse mix of contemporary and traditional music.
"Hootananny’s Pre-Games Party" on Friday 22 July (7pm – 11pm) will feature Galipaygos, The Claire Campbell Band and Spindrift" and "Hootananny’s Post-Game Party" on Saturday 23 July (7pm-11pm) will feature Mark Clement, Duncan Chisholm, Iain MacFarlance, The Rites and The Andy Gunn Band".
Tickets for the Parties will cost £6 for adults and £3 for children and will be available from Hootananny’s from July 1st.
2005 sees the opening of the first ever International Village at the Highland Games and the members of the Highland Bangladeshi Association have arranged for top Bangladeshi musical group "Balaka" to play in the International Village on the afternoon of the Games.
Balaka consists of Mohammad Mokhlesur Rahman Sajib (Singer & Musical Director)Rupi Amin(Singer), Shabika (Dancer), Dipu (Drummer),
Yusuf (Tabla) and Tonmoy (Keyboard) and it is hoped that they will be the first of many bands to come to the Games and represent one of the many different communities who have made the Highlands their home.
The final new musical event sees the launch of the first Pipe Band Competition held in Inverness since the 1960’s and there has been tremendous support from the Pipe Band Community across the North for the Tulloch’s City of Inverness Pipe Band Competitions.
18 Bands have already entered and more are expected to sign up before the draw is made on June 26th by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
Games Secretary Gerry Reynolds said: "When you add the sounds offered by the five new musical events to the music coming from the Traditional Music Tent and then mix in the jigs and reels produced by the pipers in the Highland Dancing and Solo Piping Arenas, I think we can say that the 2005 Games will be the most musical ever."