Blue skies and blue blood are expected to make today a record-setting day for attendance at the final day of the Victoria Highland Games and Celtic Festival.
“The great weather and the prince” are making for a winning combination, spokesman Doug Blackie said. “We are pretty excited about it.”
The 150th edition of the games attended by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attracted between 7,000 to 8,000 to Topaz Park in Victoria on Saturday, where the emphasis was on arts, music and culture.
The Sunday program at the park showcases the Highland Games competitions. They are attracting the usual finale crowd of games enthusiasts plus many who didn’t attend Saturday because of the intermittently grey skies, Blackie said.
Lineups were seen around Blanshard Street, the park’s western border, as the Heavy Events Challenge and Highland dancing continued. “We’ve never seen lineups so long to get in here,” Blackie said. However, because the event space has been reconfigured from last year, the area is full but not crowded, he said.
Today the Duke of York, honorary chief of the games, presided over their opening. At 12:40 p.m., he presented awards and is scheduled to do so again at 4:15 p.m.
The prince is also to preside over closing ceremonies, with a massed pipe bands finale at 4:30 p.m.
The charismatic 53-year-old royal, fourth in line to the throne, is watching many of the events at Canada’s second-oldest Highland Games.
Many in attendance said they wouldn’t have missed the chance to at least see him, if not meet him.
Langford’s Gayle Gold wasn’t going to miss her chance.
Prince Andrew, a naval officer for 22 years, inspected the 100-person guard from the Royal Canadian Navy on Saturday. After opening the day’s events, he stood straight as massed bands played Highland Laddie and Hail to the Chief.
Prince Andrew also unveiled a marble plaque Saturday commemorating Victoria’s Scottish settlers, who first shared their sports, music, dance and culture in 1864.
Modern Highland games still feature many “auld” events, from sheep-shearing to stone-wall building and caber tossing.
In Canada, only the Highland games in Antigonish, N.S., are older than Victoria’s, according to Randall Stewart, the event’s culture chairman. He accompanied the prince, wearing a suit Saturday, around the park, pronouncing him “quite a gentleman.”
Earlier Saturday, the prince gave certificates to nearly 100 youth at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards in Canada. He said he hoped the stellar qualities they’ve already displayed would help later in life. “Because, actually, most of life is about solving problems.”
Inside Government House, at a dinner hosted by Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon on Friday, a relaxed and smiling prince charmed the 111 dinner guests, including artist Robert Bateman, MP Murray Rankin and members of the church, judiciary and military.
- with files from Katherine Dedyna and Louise Dickson
