Highland Games Tickets
Tickets for the 2008 Highland Games are now on sale and will cost £6 for adults and £2 for children, kilt wearers and senior citizens. As usual tickets for our Games will be on sale on the day of the Games, we havent had a sell out since we started in 1822 because our Park is so big; but if you would like to buy your tickets in advance, please click on the link on the top right of this website. New for this year is our "Two Good To Miss Tickets" which allows you entry to the Game field for the last two hours of the Games from £2. This will enable folk arriving in the City or just finishing work to come and see the Caber Tossing and Massed Pipe Bands on Saturday and to see the Caber Tossing and the pre-Proclaimers concert in the Clan Village. The "Two Good To Miss" Tickets go on sale at 4pm each day of the Games
NEWSFLASH PROCLAIMERS TICKETS - MAKE SURE YOU GET YOURS
If you planning on seeing The Proclaimers concert at our Games - the message from the Games Committee is please buy your tickets as soon as possible.
NEWSFLASH - PROCLAIMERS TO STAR AT 2008 GAMES
We are delighted to announce that Scottish music legends The Proclaimers will end their year-long tour at our Highland Games!.
Twins Charlie and Craig Reid have confirmed that they will play a concert at Bught Park on the evening of Sunday July 20 to bring our Games to a close.
About 6,000 tickets for the gig, which will be held in a giant marquee in Bught Park, are now on sale and selling like hot haggis cakes. Yesterday, Craig said: "Inverness was one of the most important cities in the early live development of The Proclaimers, and we are absolutely delighted to be playing this historic city."
The Proclaimers aim to make it a real party night in The Big Top at Bught Park, Inverness on Sunday 20th July, with special guests, This R 2 Tone and Vincent Vincent and the Villains on board, the tent is bound to be bouncing from the first note. As well as a grand finale to the Inverness Highland Games, the gig is the final Proclaimers show of a 123-date world tour, which kicked off last summer2008 has seen The Proclaimers gigging extensively in Europe, USA and Canada before returning for a number of summer European festival appearances including Glastonbury. They then end with two spectacular Scottish concerts at Edinburgh Castle on the 19th July followed by the special Inverness concert. Craig and Charlie Reid will spend the rest of the year off the road, writing new material, hoping to be back out live in the second half of 2009.2007 was an incredible year for The Proclaimers. They enjoyed a UK Number One with the Comic Relief release of ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’, their ‘Best Of’ went Platinum and they followed this up with the album ‘Life With You’, which saw them enjoy some of the greatest critical and commercial success of their careers. The album went Silver by the end of the year and is still going strong. They kicked off last summer with a string of triumphant festival appearances and then undertook their biggest and most successful ever UK tour, which included selling more gig tickets in Scotland than any other single act in 2007, over 45,000 tickets for 19 sell out shows. Mark Mackie, Director of promoters Regular Music said, “ We are delighted to be teaming up with the Highland Council to bring to Bught Park this fantastic concert, which we hope will be the cultural highlight of the Highlands this summer."Vincent Vincent and the VillainsFour piece hailing from Bethnal Green, London, the hotly tipped quartet have just released their long awaited debut album ‘Gospel Bombs’ (EMI) with a sound they describe as “Modern Rock’n’Roll” merging ”the British Rock’n’Roll thump of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates with the poetic racket of Richard Hell and the Voidoids’. “Here come a bunch of screaming, scruffy rock n roll reprobates knocking seven bells of hell out of classic surf rock; an unlikely combination of outlaws, romantics and vintage guitar licks breaking out of the window, shinning down the drainpipe and tearing down the alley like some kind of wild cat. What with all the Doo-Wop, the gumshoe vibrato guitar and the throaty, earnest battle cry of Vincent Vincent himself anybody would think Kevin Rowland had purloined Johnny Kid’s Pirates and got them kissing the gunner’s daughter.” The GuardianThis Are 2-Tone Are a dedicated 11-piece ska band, paying homage to the works of 2-Tone Records. Incorporating the sounds from The Specials, Madness & TheBodysnatchers, the band are on a mission to raise profile and virtue for quality live dance music with attitude. Based in Scotland, these skanksters convey the nutty sound; at it’s very best. To push the legacy of 2-Tone further, two special guests, Rhoda Dakar, lead vocalist for The Bodysnatchers/Special AKA and Nick Welsh (Seleceter/Skaville UK) shall be joining them stage to make a memorable summer ska night happen in Inverness.Inverness, Bught Park Standing: £28.50 plus booking feeFamily Ticket: £100.00 (2adults/2kids)Tickets Hotline: 0844 847 2269ON LINE : www.ticketmaster.co.uk
NEWSFLASH - INVERNESS GAMES WINS AWARD
The Inverness City Advertiser's Annual Awards Ceremony took place on Friday at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness. We are delighted to announce that the winner of the award for the "Best Sporting Event" for 2007 went to "The City of Inverness Highland Games". The Trophy was awarded to our Games Secretary Gerry Reynolds who collected it on behalf of the team which hosted the World Highland Games Heavy Championship's last July. Gerry also collected a second award at the show for the Highland Council's "Inverness Bonfire and Fireworks Display" which won the "Best Free Event" Award and attracted 20,000 folk to Bught Park in November.
NEWSFLASH - SUNDAY CONCERTS ANNOUNCED
Top local bands The Jyrojets and Low Tide Revelry will headline Sunday's Local Bands Showcase which will also feature a number of young bands in the Tulloch Traditional Music Tent. The Jyrojets recently won the Inverness City Advertisers Band of the Year and this will be their first appearance at our Games.
Other Games News
The track and field programme for the Games has been confirmed and our Open Men and Open Womens Heavy events will take place on Saturday 19th July and that our Masters, Under 25's and Under 20's will take place on Sunday 20th July.
Fans of traditional music will be delighted to hear that an extra hour has been added to the Games programme. On Saturday there will be a extended five hour show commencing at 1pm in the Tulloch's Traditional Music Tent. The show will be hosted by Andy Ross and will be recorded by MFR for their traditional music show hosted by John the Prof.
The Games Committee are currently in discussions with the makers of the popular BBC Blast programme and hopes are high that there will be a tented village erected just outside(*) the entrance to our Games field at the City end of our Games field.(* Because everything the BBC does is already paid for by our TV licence fees, their roadshows have to be located in a part of Bught Park that you dont have to pay to get in to!)
One of the most popular attractions at our Games is the Inter Clan Gathering on Saturday which is organised and hosted by Ben and Juliette Chisholm-Broomfield in our Giant Clan Village. Attended by over 30 clans, this great indoor display is currently the biggest staged in Scotland annually and is well worth a visit. They even have a table for spectators who need a clan!
The Highland Dancing Competitions at our Games are organised by Elizabeth Fraser and will take place on Saturday July 19th. The Highland Dancers are one of the most popular attractions at our Games and will take part in a mass Highland Fling in front of the main stand at the end of our Opening Ceremony. On Sunday the dancers will return to perform a number of displays throughout the day.
The 2008 Inverness Highland Games site is big and stretches across the whole of Bught Park. Our advice to everyone is dont forget to wear your most comfortable walking shoes and expect to spend at least four hours with us!
The ever popular Charles Horne Funfair will be visiting us this year and will be located at the City Centre end of Bught Park.
We are delighted to announce that the Institute of Physics Display Team will be returning this year. The feedback that we got from the kids who visited their stand last year was tremendous. Make sure you pay them a visit.
The Inverness Highland Games is one of many Highland Games that takes place around Scotland every summer. If you would like to find out when the other Games are taking place, all you have to do is visit the excellent Alba Games site which is looked after by our Committee Member Malcolm Cleghorn at www.albagames.co.uk !
We are expecting over 100 Trade and Charity Stalls at our Games this year. The Traders Village is filled with all sorts of treasures made by local crafts people as well as one or two suprises.
There are some great photographs in our gallery which you can send to your friends as an e-card. All you have to do is click on the photograph of your choice and complete the form. We have one photograph in particular that seems to be a huge favourite with visitors to our site. The picture is located in the 2005 Gallery.