FERGUS – The sounds of bagpipes and drums will echo through downtown Fergus on Sunday, April 12, as two local pipe bands celebrate National Tartan Day.
Between around 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., members of the Fergus Pipe Band and the Grand Celtic Pipe Band will perform throughout St. Andrew Street in Downtown Fergus, bringing a lively afternoon of Scottish music to the community.
The annual Fergus observance of Tartan Day normally takes place on the first Sunday in April, but in a press release, the pipe bands say this year it has been pushed to the following week since April 5 falls on Easter Sunday.
“In addition to performing on the street, the bands have been invited by some local establishments to come into or onto the patios of their places of business to treat their customers to ‘up-close’ renditions of some of each band’s favourite tunes. After each set, each band will rest a bit with those customers and then move on down (or up) the street to play some more. Thanks to the Fergus Legion (12:30 & 4:00), the Breadalbane Inn (1:15 & 4:30), the Outpost (2:00 & 3:15), the Brewhouse (1:45 & 3:15), and the Goofie Newfie (1:00 & 4:15),” a press release said from the Fergus Pipe Band and Grand Celtic Pipe Band.
Anyone hoping to see both bands perform together can gather near the Fergus Grand Theatre at around 2:45 p.m.
National Tartan Day traces its origins back to Canada. In 1986, the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia proposed creating a day dedicated to celebrating and promoting Scottish heritage through the public display of tartan and cultural traditions.
