Special events to celebrate 20th anniversary
of the Canmore Highland Games
 PIPERS marching against the backdrop of the Rockies at the annual Canmore Highland Games. |
CANMORE, Alberta – The event that was first presented in 1991 on a shoestring budget has grown into one of the largest of its kind in western Canada.
Organizers attribute the growing popularity of the annual Canmore Highland Games to the pristine mountain setting.
Each year, thousands of people and hundreds of volunteers flock to Centennial Park to partake in the biggest Celtic celebration in Alberta. Annual attendance is now estimated between 6,000 to 8,000.
“People just love to come to Canmore”, said Don Garen who was instrumental in establishing the Games in the mountain town of Canmore, Alberta.
This year, the non-profit group Three Sisters Scottish Festival Society will present the 20th annual Canmore Highland Games on September 5. To mark the anniversary, the group has some special prizes in store.
The 2010/$2,010 pipe tune contest is one such event. First prize is $2,010, second prize is $1,000 and third prize is $500 for the best compositions on bagpipes.
The winning tune, which will be entitled The Canmore Highland Games will be played at the opening ceremonies of the Games on September 5.
The contest will be adjudicated by three highly respected and acclaimed pipers and composers: Robert Worrall of Toronto, Ed Neigh of London, Ontario, and Bruce Gandy of Halifax.
“We had some great entries by high-level players, and entries came in from United States, Scotland, Germany and Canada,” says President Sandra McLeod.
This year’s Highland dancing competition at the Games will feature a special choreography dance to the pipe music of Gordie McLeod’s Jig, composed by Calgary piper Ann Gray.
President Sandra McLeod’s son Gordie is fondly remembered by the Games organizers as a young man of considerable talent, humour and intelligence who was a skilled piper who often played around Canmore with the local pipe band.
He was also a pilot and perished in an air accident in the NWT in August of 2006.
Rumours are that there will also be a wedding at the Games! A couple has approached the board to hold their wedding at the event because they originally met there three years ago.
Another possible event in the works is a special demonstration by a squad of drum majors, trained by Norman MacKenzie of Toronto.
The Society will proudly display the Canmore and Dress Canmore tartans, recently certified with the Scottish Register of Tartans.
For more information, visit www.canmorehighlandgames.com
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