Stay up to dateBraemar Gathering
Braemar Gathering
Braemar Gathering takes place on the first Saturday in September. The Gathering is held at at The Princess Royal & Duke of Fife Memorial Park in the centre of Braemar. The patron of The Games is Her Majesty The Queen whose Scottish residence is nearby Balmoral Castle. Events start at 9.30 a.m.
The photo shows The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh; arriving in their Bentley; at Braemar Gathering. The Royal couple are accompanied by Prince Charles.
Parking facilities are on the fields on the edge of the village. The grassy banks of The Memorial Park form a great natural vantage point. You can also buy grandstand tickets in advance (recommended).
You are advised to arrive early to avoid traffic congestion. If you are coming over Glenshee watch out for red deer. The best chance of spotting red deer in summer is in the evenings. Remember if one runs across the road it’s likely to be immediately followed by several others.
Click here for Braemar Gathering Slideshow & More Information
Click here for Braemar Slideshow Click here for Glenshee Ski Centre
Click here for Ballater Highland Games Slideshow
Click here for Aboyne Highland Games Slideshow. Click here for whats on Royal Deeside
Banchory Show
Banchory Show
Click here to go to the Banchory Show Slideshow
Banchory Show events include horse events for Hunters, Ponies & Clydesdales, plus of course cattle and sheep events.
For whats on Banchory & Banchory Events go to the Events page.
Banchory show is an annual event and family fun day. Uniquely Banchory show is held right in the town centre handy for all the shops. The show includes trade stands, highland dancing, a pipe band, a tug o war and a livestock parade.
Click here for Crathes Castle Banchory Click here for The Deeside Line & The Deeside Way
Click Here for Banchory guide Click here for Falls of Feugh
Echt Show
Echt Show celebrated its 160th Anniversary on July 13th 2013
Click Here to go to the Echt Show Slideshow
The show always has a great turnout., and has a featured main display event.
There are livestock shows, a funfair, horseshoe making demonstration, parades, clydesdale horses, vintage tractors, highland dancing and much more.
Kintore pipe band piped in the 2013 160th anniversary event. See an Antique thrashing machine made in Aberdeen on the slideshow page.
Pipe Bands -The Role of The Drum Major in Military Pipe Bands
A pipe bands Drum Major from The Gordon Highlanders military pipe band at The Aboyne Highland Games.
© Bill Bagshaw
In a military pipe band the Drum Major would be a man of outstanding military character able to control men in battle.
The Drum Major was the figurehead of the regiment. In battle he instructed the drummers to play certain beats which passed messages to the rest of the troops.
The Drum Major’s was a very important job in the pipe bands. If he got it wrong the battle could be lost. He carried proud regimental honours on his sash and upon his silver headed mace.
Military pipe band drum majors do not throw their mace, however in more recent years a drum major in a non military band became more of an entertainer who threw and caught his mace.
Click here for Aboyne Highland Games
Glenshee Ski Centre
Piste basher at Glenshee Ski Centre. Click here to go to Ski Centres page.
Click here to go to Cairnwell 3 man chairlift © Bill Bagshaw
Sunnyside ski slopes can be seen behind one of Glenshees’s smaller Kassbohrer piste bashers.
Behind the Sunnyside slopes are another 2 valleys of uplift, Meall Odhar and Glas Maol.
Piste Basher is the popular European term for a snow groomer.
To the right of the photo is the Baddoch chairlift which links the base station to Cairnwell, Carn Aosda and Butcharts ski and board areas.
Cairnwell is derived from a gaelic name meaning “hill of bags”
New Cairnwell 3 man Charlift at Glenshee