Peterhead Scottish Week draws the cowds

Peterhead Scottish Week’s diamond year proved the most successful yet, with thousands turning out for the likes of the Red Arrows and fly-past as well as the popular event plus some new additions to the 60th year programme.

The Palace Hotel was the place to be on Monday and Tuesday with the return of Connie’s annual Scottish Week Fair.

Hundreds of visitors came through the doors to browse at the stalls, enjoy the refreshments and be in with a chance to win in the raffles.

The Buchan Queen and the Buchan Princesses even made an appearance and were seen looking at the goods on offer.

The Red Arrows took to the skies on Wednesday as thousands watched the best display yet.

The Marinathon was held on Monday night and welcomed a staggering 480 entrants.

The event, organised on behalf of Peterhead Scottish Week by local running group Peterhead JogScotland, saw participants run, jog or walk the 3km course along the Lido and back.

There was a warm-up for all ‘runners’ before the horn signalled the start of the Fun Run.

Organiser Stephen Bruce was delighted with the turnout and the weather was firmly on the runners’ side.

The flypast was seen by thousands.

The Marinathon has been part of the Scottish Week programme for well over a decade and is suitable for all ages and abilities.

This year, special medals were award to each finisher to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubillee. Among those to distribute the medals were this year’s Buchan Queen, Erika Paterson along with Melissa Watson and Alana Henderson, the Buchan Princesses.

The annual Pub Quiz, or Scottish Week Quiz Night, found a new home this year at the Peterhead Masonic Club.

A total of 21 teams filled the hall with categories covering Geography, Sport, Entertainment, General Knowledge and Music. There was even a round dedicated to Scottish Week to mark the 60th anniversary.

The Buchan Queen and her princesses popped into Connie's Fair at the Palace Hotel.

In the end the top three teams were separated by six points with the winners being Donnie Darkos with Digirie Can Dos in second and Us Plus Jordan in third.

The wooden spoon award, for the team that sadly had to come last, went to Jack’s Team.

Lynne Greig was quizmaster for the evening and the new venue was highly praised.

A buttery morning or coffee morning organised by the RNLI has been a staple of Scottish Week since the early 1960s.

The RNLI buttery morning was packed.

The Palace Hotel was the venue once more with stalls, raffles and most importantly a fine cup of tea or coffee ready to be served along with pancakes and butteries.

The RNLI mascot, Stormy Stan, was popular amongst visitors - seen photographed with Caroline Weir, the event organiser and Erika Paterson, the Buchan Queen.

Caroline was delighted with the number of visitors to the Buttery Morning with a steady flow over the two hour event.

To mark the occasion of the 60th Peterhead Scottish Week, the RAF made an offer to the committee last year to return to Peterhead with something truly special.

Thousands lined the Lido Beach, South Road, the Links and the harbour as the the faint sounds of a Spitfire plane could be heard approaching.

The Spitfire was due to be part of a “Battle of Britain” display, along with a Hurricane but the latter developed a technical fault earlier in the day and could not attend.

The Marinathon attracted a huge entry on Monday night.

Commentary was relayed across the Lido Car Park, via Buchan Radio, and it was highlighted that it was very rare to have a Spitfire fly so far north in Britain. The plane itself was one of only two Spitfires that are able to take to the skies. This particular aircraft had taken part in World War II in 1940.

In contrast, regulars to Peterhead Scottish Week, the RAF Red Arrows Aerobatic Display Team, put on what had been described as its best routine of the year so far! The team made its first appearance to Peterhead back in 1994 and 2022 marked the ninth occasion that they were a feature of “Scottish Week”. The 22-minute display ended with a smoke shaped heart across Peterhead Bay that sent the crowd into rapturous applause.

Crowds then hurried to the Links where a cordoned area has been set up for the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team.

A parachute routine was not new to Scottish Week, as the Golden Lions used to appear many years ago. The Falcons had been pencilled in to jump during Scottish Week 2019, but had to cancel with the thick fog and rain.

Thankfully we had blue skies with patchy cloud covering and the sun breaking through on Wednesday evening. Finally, shortly after 8:05pm, a small plane appeared in the sky over the Links, where a smoke flare had been set off to alert the team in the sky the wind direction.

Nine brave parachuters could then be seen above. The routine was greatly received by onlookers as each Falcon landed safely on the Links.

Head of the group then stood to give a traditional salute to the Buchan Queen, Buchan Princesses and the event sponsors; Peterhead Port Authority, MDL and Asco.

There then followed some photo opportunities for kids and fans with the team members.

Graham Barron of Scottish Week described the evening as “brilliant” while chair Karen Day thought the hard work had really paid off and that it could not have been possible without the event sponsors and donations from the public.