Thousands flock to history festival

Aug 26 2010 by George Topp, Hamilton Advertiser

THOUSANDS of visitors from around the world were in Lanark at the weekend for the Advertiser-backed Scotland’s Festival of History.

The largest re-enactment and history festival ever held in Scotland attracted tourists from as far away as Japan, Russia, and Canada.

They, and many others from the county, were there to see around 500 specialists from across Europe recreate 2000 years of Scottish history.

And whilst there, the visitors had a unique chance to experience history at first hand. Re-enactors were happy to explain how people lived across the centuries, and even show visitors around the various camps.

And the smell of camp fires or gunpowder from the cannon battles helped create an authentic atmosphere.

“It was absolutely amazing,” said Hamilton visitor Iain Wallace.

He added: “It was just like a time warp and our family had such a good time on the Saturday that we went back on Sunday. We can’t wait till next year.”

A Saturday flypast by the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was cancelled when the WW2 Dakota was grounded because of high winds.

However, the flight did go ahead on Sunday, delighting the thousands of visitors as it circled Lanark Racecourse.

The festival also saw the final public appearance of Lanarkshire’s Lord Lieutenant Gilbert Cox.

He was on hand to present the Lanark Silver Arrow to the winner of a two-day international longbow archery tournament, won by Northern Ireland, with the Netherlands second.

The festival began eight years ago as a small half-day medieval themed market to mark Lanark’s links with William Wallace and is now the country’s national history festival.

The event is supported by Advertiser publishers Scottish & Universal Newspapers as well as EventScotland, the country’s national events agency; Leader + and South Lanarkshire Council.