Perth-Andover Scottish festival draws great crowds
Rod MacIntosh, chairman of the Gathering of the Scots Festival, is happy to explain why Western New Brunswick’s largest Celtic event is still drawing crowds to Perth-Andover after 25 years.
“If you stood in the Ceilidh Tent at 4 (p.m. Saturday), three pipe bands walk into the tent and play, 60 pipers, playing amongst the tables…. I don’t care who you are, that’s got to move your soul,” MacIntosh said. “It’s not just a sound, it’s a feeling, it’s a thunder that reverberates in your chest.”
That Scottish thunder has been echoing through Perth-Andover for 25 years, introducing fair goers to kilts, bagpipers, haggis, heavy athletics, and Gaelic every spring. MacIntosh said the crowds keep coming.
“This year was one of the largest crowds we have ever experienced, one of the best festivals, ever…. We had a couple of people from Australia taking Gaelic lessons in the tent. People were amazed at the festival.”
The Gathering features four days of events. On Thursday, Aroostook Valley Country Club hosted a GOS golf tourney. On Friday, more than 300 students from Andover Elementary visited the site to participate in Gaelic activities, with a community parade and a welcome social in the evening.
“The elementary students experienced heavy weights, pipe band workshops and all kinds of activities. We served them all dinner and it was a great start to the event,” MacIntosh said.
Saturday features a full day of activities, including the Scottish Heavyweight Athletic competitions, archery, kids’ games, rugby, mass bands, piping and drumming, a whisky-tasting workshop, a fly-casting competition, the Knights of Valour jousting shows, and numerous musical acts.
“The jousting has been here for three years and is very popular…. Every year we pick a Clan Chieftain, someone who exemplifies the Gathering of the Scots. Marg McLaughlin spent her whole life being passionate about Scottish culture and teaching bagpipers. She is wonderful person to have for our 25th anniversary as Clan Chieftain.”
MacIntosh said the 2026 keeper of the Castalia Stone is Archie Demeria. The stone, excavated from Muniac Stream, weighs about 19 stone (roughly 260 pounds) and is a test of raw strength and ingenuity. The Castalia Stone is named after the vessel that carried 530 Scottish newcomers across the Atlantic to New Brunswick in the 1870’s. The stone has its own Facebook page and draws Scottish lovers to the keeper’s home.
“Archie will keep a journal so everyone who visits the stone, perhaps to try to lift it, visit or drink a dram of whisky off the top of it. He’s our 10th keeper of the stone. People come searching for her (the stone). Castalia has had visitors from across the Maritimes and Ontario.”
The Gathering concluded Sunday evening with the Kirking of the Tartans at Larlee Creek Church. Anglican Archdeacon Maria Shepherdson conducted the service in English and Gaelic.
