Gaelic culture festival 'a success'

Published on Sunday 18 October 2009 23:10

ORGANISERS have hailed a festival celebrating Gaelic culture as a success after an estimated 9,000 people flocked to the week-long event.

The annual Royal National Mod festival finished yesterday with a choir of around 400 people performing on the waterfront in Oban.

The choir was made up of singers who had competed in the festival's competitions throughout the week.

It was the 15th time the festival has been held in Oban since the first Highland gathering in the town in 1892.

Singers, musicians and artists converged on the town for daily competitions while classes were held to promote Gaelic language. Sporting clashes also brought the more traditional shinty games to the area.

John Morrison, chief executive of organisers An Comunn Gaidhealach, said: "We are thrilled with the number of competitors this year, whose ages range from five to 92-years-old, who have travelled from all across Scotland, the UK and the world to celebrate Gaelic culture with us.

"Highlights of the week include a record 1,900 children taking part in the junior competitions. Personal highlights for me were the fantastic Fiddlers Rally on Friday and the gold medal competition held on Thursday where the standard was incredibly high."

Last year's event in Falkirk generated more than 1.4 million from visitors and Mr Morrison estimated that this year's event in Oban has generated a similar amount for the local economy.