WATCH: Gordon Castle Highland Games and Country Fair was three years in the making
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IT was a reunion three years in the waiting as thousands returned to the Gordon Castle Highland Games and Country Fair on Sunday.
Sunshine smiles were the order of the day as people celebrated the return of the popular countryside event for the first time since 2019.
The pandemic years put the games into an enforced Covid hibernation in 2020 and 2021.
So, it was with a renewed fervour that people headed for Fochabers on Sunday.
Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox, owners of Gordon Castle estate, were delighted to see so many people again in their back garden.
“Isn’t it just so fantastic after two fallow years of not having this and this year everyone seems to want to get out,” Angus said.
Added Zara: “It’s just such a joy to welcome people back on a beautiful sunny day. There is no better sight and sound than the massed bands and people with all their dog enjoying a lovely family day out.
“This was traditionally a clan gathering and this is exactly what it feels like, a gathering of people after such a long time of not seeing anybody.”
The Gordon games is the first big event to return following the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
“It is really important for all the stallholders and businesses to be back at these events. To have people here and for them to feel relaxed again in a big crowd environment is very important,” said Zara.
“It’s lovely to feel that tourism is coming back as well.”
“We do it to include the community and be part of the community,” added Angus
“Hopefully we have put Covid behind us and this is a celebration of getting out and about at the beginning of the summer.”
And Zara was pleased to see people reunited with friends.
“I think people are genuinely happy to see each other again in a big space, in a beautiful setting, on a lovely sunny day.”
