Weather woes kill Fair City’s Highland games

Damage to games field too severe to save event

Perth Highland Games has been cancelled after torrential rain left the Lesser South Inch like “a ploughed field”.

The last-minute announcement — the games were due to take place on Sunday — was met with widespread disappointment.

However, it was felt that the state of the site after the recent rain during last weekend’s Perth Show left organisers with little option but to cancel.

The council had offered the main South Inch as an alternative but the games’ organisers didn’t feel it was a suitable venue for an event which regularly attracts crowds of more than 5,000.

In an announcement the organisers said: “It is with much regret that we announce the cancellation of this year’s Perth Highland Games. Unfortunately, the Lesser South Inch (where we were due to have the games) is completely out of commission and due to a lack of a suitable alternative venue, the difficult decision was made to cancel, following a site visit by the games committee.

“We hope to see you all next year for the 2018 games and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council confirmed an alternative venue had been offered but turned down.

“We are very disappointed to hear the news today that the Perth Highland Games will not go ahead this weekend,” they said.

“We are aware that it would be difficult to stage the event in light of recent wet weather conditions and following the impact of an event held the previous weekend.

“Officers from the council met with the organisers of the games on Monday to offer an alternative venue, which was considered by the Perth Highland Games Committee to be unsuitable.”

Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said the games will be sadly missed. “I’m really disappointed to hear that the games have been cancelled,” he said, describing it as “one of the most popular events in the Highland games calendar”.

Perth stage and television actress Lorna Craig had been due to take on the role of chieftain of the games, which would have featured heavyweight events, tug o’ war and pipe bands.

The Lesser South Inch is completely out of commission

Picture: Steve MacDougall. The churned-up state of the Lesser South Inch after torrential rain and the recent Perth Show has led to the Perth Highland Games having to be cancelled.