Traditional Start to Inverness Summer Festival
The first Inverness Summer Festival opens on Saturday (20 June) with one of the Highland capital’s oldest and much loved events – the Marymas Medieval Fair.
Proceedings with start at 11.30am with the traditional procession to the Town House where Provost Jimmy Gray, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Inverness City Committee, will crown the 2009 Marymas Queen Miss Brittany Thomas (representing Charleston Academy). She will be escorted by her 4 attendants Susan Love (Culloden Academy), Kirsty McClelland (Inverness High School), Hannah Bell (Millburn Academy) and Louise Hall (Inverness Royal Academy).
Following the crowning ceremony the procession will then make its way to Northern Meeting Park where the Crossroads (Inverness) team have organised more than 100 stalls and will be presenting a packed programme of events including Medieval Shows featuring Highland Warriors courtesy of Battlescar, Falconry Displays, live music and dancers, jugglers and jesters, puppet shows and horse-drawn carriage rides, archery and paintball.
All profits from the Medieval Fair support Crossroads (Inverness) which provides free, home-based respite care to any age and disability in the Inverness area. The event is attended by more than 3,500 visitors and raises approximately £15,000.
Councillor Roy Pedersen, Chairman of the Inverness Festivals Working Group Chairman, said “As well as delivering major civic events like the Inverness Highland Games featuring the Masters World Championships and the Kirking of the Council during the weeks ahead, we are already working with a number of community groups and partners to strengthen the links between the various events staged in our city and to maximise their potential.
“The diary at our official website at www.invernessfestivals.com is proving to be extremely popular and we are delighted that it has been so well received by our accommodation providers who have reported that it has enabled them to provide visitors with up to date detailed information about our city's events.”
The Inverness Summer Festival will run from Saturday until the Kirking of the Council ceremony on 13 September.