The weather was great, crowds were huge, and the 65th annual Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games was a big success this past weekend.
"The weather was magical ...We were very fortunate," said festival president Deb Dalziel. "The big torrential downpour (Sunday) evening came about 10 minutes after our closing act finished their volunteer appreciation show."
The festival has been hurt by rain the past two years, but this year, apart from an occasional light shower the weather was wonderful.
The free Saturday night fireworks competition - one of the new events this year - was a particular highlight. Dalziel says it was wonderful to see people coming from all over town to watch the show, with families filling the main field and kids playing before the show.
"It was like Canada Day all over again," she said. The competition featured two 20-minute fireworks shows.
Also new this year were Thursday night activities downtown that started with the revival of the traditional Highland Games parade, followed by a community ceilidh for all ages at the Fergus Legion.
About 450 people took part in the parade, which drew big crowds to downtown streets - and guided them to the Legion where entertainment began as soon as groups of people started to arrive.
"We were tickled tartan," Dalziel said of the event's success.
The Fergus Lions Club's Santa Claus parade team and marshal gave invaluable help to festival parade organizers and the Legion in getting the parade organized and underway. Neighbours in the Victoria Park area where things started were also very supportive - the festival sent out a letter telling people about the parade and asking for understanding with the "organized chaos" of getting the parade put together.
Thursday's "Sneak McPeek" featured bands performing at the Legion and in downtown establishments, who'd later perform on the festival grounds. Dalziel says the community event encouraged some people to head up to the festival just to see the bands again.
Attendance figures haven't been finalized yet, but Dalziel estimates it has to be up from other years - there was a parking crisis at 11 a.m. Saturday, volunteers were half an hour or more late getting into the site, and the site was crowded. "It's nice to see those sorts of crowds," she said.
Online ticket sales were up 81 percent from last year, she said.