Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/13/2022
NORTHAMPTON – People of every heritage and background are invited to attend the 27th annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival on July 16 in Look Park in the Florence neighborhood of Northampton, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; with music continuing until 9:30 pm.
The festival has grown from humble beginnings in Blandford to become the second-largest Scottish festival in New England and the only one in Massachusetts.
Blandford resident Peter Langmore, who has chaired the festival for over 20 years, said the festival still has strong local connections to Blandford, which was founded in 1735 by Scots-Irish settlers, and gave the festival its name.
According to local history, “In the spring of 1735, two young scouts were sent from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to the foothills of the Berkshires to erect a few log huts and to start clearing forests in preparation for a group of men and women settling there in the fall. An unexpected spring storm had dumped three feet of snow on the ground, making the progress difficult, but nevertheless, by fall the group inched its way westward and settled in what they called 'Glasgow Lands,’" later to be renamed Blandford by Governor Shirley for the ship he arrived in.
The first year of the festival, which was intended to be a one-time event to benefit the restoration of the town’s historical White Church, was held in 1994 at the Blandford Fairgrounds. Now fully restored, the White Church will be celebrating its 200th anniversary on Labor Day with a festival of its own.
After that first year, Glasgow Lands carried on due to popular demand, outgrowing the fairgrounds after five years, and moving first to Stanley Park in Westfield, and then in 2004 to Look Park in Florence, where it remained until COVID-19 interrupted the annual event the past two years.
The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote Scottish culture, raise funds toward local nonprofit organizations and award Scottish cultural scholarships for Highland dancing and piping.
All profits from the event are donated to the Forum House, a counselor facility and certified clubhouse in Westfield, and the River Valley Counseling Center in Holyoke, which opened a Westfield office in the Westwood building this past year. Both organizations have a longstanding partnership with the Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival.
Marching in opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m. on July 16 will be 23 pipe bands competing with over 450 pipers and drummers. There will also be 27 clans represented in a parade, sheep herding, Scottish dogs and other animals, plates piled high with scones, shortbread, bridies and meat pies, and 41 kilt-wearing, tree-tossing Scotsmen and -women participating in the Highland athletic games. This year’s master of ceremonies will be Patrick Berry of MassAppeal.
Tickets are $25, with $5 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children under 6. Advance e-tickets are $22 with a service fee, and are available online at glasgowlands.org up until the day of the festival.
The family fun event also includes children’s athletic games and a water spray park. Many clans and a genealogist will be present to assist in tracing festivalgoers’ Scottish ancestry. Vendors will be offering a variety of Scottish foods and imports. Also featured is Celtic harp music of the Pioneer Valley Harpers’ Guild, spinning and weavinGklag from the Weavers’ Guild of Springfield, and living history from the Historic Highlanders.
While most vendors pack up at 5 p.m., world-class Celtic music may be heard in the Ceilidh tent from 9:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Featured artists include Sarah the Fiddler, House of Hamill, Albannach and Enter the Haggis, who will present music ranging from sweet, pure song and boisterous ballads all the way to fiery fiddling and full-blown Celtic rock and tribal drum and comedy.
The Celtic Pub will feature local microbrews provided by New City Brewery in Easthampton. New this year will be whiskey tasting, on a separate ticket, sponsored by Four Seasons Wine & Liquor in Hadley.
For more information and schedules, visit www.glasgowlands.org or call 862-8095.