Press your best plaid outfit and get ready to embrace Scottish culture during the 12th annual Mount Dora Scottish Highland Festival.
During the festival event, enjoy bagpipe and drum performances, a tartan parade, Highland athletics competition and more. The family-friendly event will be held from Feb. 14 to 16 with activities happening at two parks in Mount Dora.
“This is my favorite festival that we present each year,” said Christopher Carson, cultural and special events manager for the City of Mount Dora. “It brings out so many different people and it’s a family-oriented program where you can learn so much.”
The opening night of the Scottish culture festival will feature live musical performances from bands including The Harp Twins and the Port O’Thority from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 14 at Donnelly Park, 530 N. Donnelly St. in Mount Dora.
During Feb. 15 and
16, guests can find live music and Highland Athletics at Elizabeth Evans Park,
100 N. Donnelly St. in Mount Dora. There will be live music, bag pipe performances, a Scottish Reenactment Camp and a Society and Heritage Village at Donnelly Park.
The sounds of Scotland will continue to flow through downtown streets of Mount Dora, with musical performances and athletic games set to occur from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 15.
The focus will change at noon with eyes turning to the plaid in the street for the Tartan Parade and event opening ceremonies at Donnelly Park.
Scottish roots run deep in the city because of its relationship withForres, Scotland that formed in 1990. The Mount Dora Sister Cities
Association promotes in-person contact and cultural exchanges between Mount Dora and Scotland.
During the last 12 years, Mount Dora has created its own Scottish tartan.
The design is now the official tartan of the festival and is registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans, the national records of Scotland. Traditionally, tartan was designed with specific patterns to help easily identify families and clans of Scotland.
“For the Tartan Parade, we can bring in different bag pipe bands from different areas including Panama City, Jacksonville, Orlando and Mount Dora,” Carson said. “The bands come together to create a mass band, which is pretty impressive, and they introduce the 20 to 30 different Scottish societies participating in the parade.”
Scottish societies scheduled to attend the event include the Central Florida Outlander Society, Clan Buchanan Society International, Clan Leslie
Society International and more.
There will be 120 to
150 different athletes competing in the various traditional Scottish Highland Games including the caber toss, the sheaf toss, stone throwing and a firetruck pull.
After working up an appetite from engaging with all of the festival’s exciting activities and historical information, visit the various food and beverage vendors stationed for the event.
“There will be meat pies, sausage pies, we wanted to include a lot of authentic German food vendors and snack items,” Carson said. “There will be a few American food vendors for patrons.”
The final act of the event is the closing ceremony featuring a performance from the City of Mount Dora Pipes and Drums band.
“It’s such a privilege to represent Mount Dora and keep the Scottish culture alive by sharing it with people,” said Joe McKie, pipe major. “Everyone stops their cars and people come out of stores when we are performing.”
It is recommended to bring a blanket or chairs to be comfortable during the outdoor event.
General admission tickets for the three-day event are $24.60. General admission for Feb. 14 is $8.35 and tickets for Feb. 15 or 16 are $17.25. VIP admission for the three-day event is $54.
To purchase tickets or learn more information about the cultural festival, visit mountdora.com.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
