‘Inverness’ returns to Inverness
The Northern Meeting Piping Competitions – generally referred to by pipers as “Inverness” – will return to Eden Court Theatre in Inverness after residing in Aviemore for the last three years while the theatre was undergoing a £23 million renovation.
Eden Court Theatre officially re-opened on November 10 with a concert by the accordionist Phil Cunningham and Shetland fiddler Aly Bain. The two Celtic folk musicians last played at Eden Court in June 2005, the final concert before renovations began.
The theatre had been home to the Northern Meeting Piping Competitions for almost 30 years until it was forced to move to the MacDonald Highland Resort in Aviemore, about a 30-minute drive south of Inverness. But after more than 150 years of the event being held in Inverness, most competitors referred to the event even when it was held in Aviemore as “Inverness.”
When the event moved to Aviemore the organizers reduced entry numbers to Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal and Silver Medal competitions citing limited space as the reason. It is not known yet what final accepted entry-numbers will be with the return to Eden Court.
The 2008 Northern Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 4th, and Friday, September 5th. Its sister competition, the Argyllshire Gathering at Oban, Scotland, will be held on Wednesday, August 27th, and Thursday, August 28th.
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Great news. The Northern Meeting belongs in Inverness. The venue at Aviemore was nice, but the atmosphere was really lacking.
Thrilled to bits that the Meetings” will be back in Inverness – it was okay in Aviemore but the atmosphere just wasn’t the same….”