By Mikayla van Loon
The first Celtic festival in two years was held on the weekend as Croydon hosted the Melbourne Highland Games and Celtic Festival.
As the only festival of its kind remaining in the greater Melbourne area, people travelled far and wide to attend the traditional celebrations of the Celtic culture on Sunday 20 March.
Bringing together descendants of the various Clans, as well as pipe bands, Scottish and Irish dancers, heavy game competitors, sword fighting demonstrations, traditional food and folk music performances, it was a cultural indulgence for those both of Highland heritage and those who were not.
Officially launching the new name, having originally been known as the Ringwood Highland Games for 54 years, the committee and special guests gathered in Ringwood on Friday 18 March to introduce the new era of the festival with a traditional Ceilidh dance and dinner party.
“It’s a Scottish dance party and we use it as an introduction to the highland games,” Ceilidh organiser Rhonda Watson said.
The reintroduction of celebrating with music and dance before the games started five years ago and has become a special part of the preparations for the festival.
But this Ceilidh was a rather important one as it was the first gathering of people involved in the festival in two years.
With 141 people in attendance on Friday night, it was a joyous occasion of singing and dancing with Scottish Highland Dancers, Scottish Country Dancers and Irish Dancers all there to perform as well.
The opening of the evening began with the Address to the Haggis, a poem by Robert Burns that is a comical celebration of the Haggis.
After months of preparations and postponements, a large crowd welcomed the new phase of Highland Games in the eastern suburbs on Sunday.
