THERE are going to be some very special visitors this Sunday at the Bowhill Highland Games - a horde of 24 Vikings!
And this year's chieftain, Michael Philip, has opened the way to the Nordic invasion!
Don Campbell, a member of the Bowhill Games organising committee, explained: “Michael enjoys playing his accordion at events in Shetland and has spread the word about the Games, so the result is we will have 24 Vikings, in full regalia, in our parade this Sunday.
“They also plan to offer something special at Wallsgreen Park for the crowd so it will be quite an event.”
Michael, a popular Cardenden accordionist, goes to Shetland to take part in the annual Up Helly Aa festival and when some of the island’s Vikings, who take part in the celebration, heard about the Bowhill Games they wanted to see it for themselves.
So with Michael being chieftain this year, they decided to come down to the former mining community this September.
The success of the Games, since it re-started in 2021 after a gap of many decades, has seen all sections of the programme expand.
The athletics track will see four Powderhall Sprint winners involved, and the Scottish Sprint Championship will be part of the event.
There will be Scotland’s best heavyweight competitors on show, including Kyle Randalls, who has won a host of titles, for tossing the caber and the like as well as a full line-up of lady ‘heavy’ competitors.
There will be 150 Highland dancers competing, and there are 80 entries for the solo piping competition.
The cycling competition also has a lot of quality about it, including champion competitor Charles Fletcher, a specialist on a grass track, like the one at Wallsgreen.
Added Don: “Ours is the last Games of the season so there will be a lot of competitors looking for vital points that could win them prestigious titles so the competition will be fierce.
“Hopefully the weather will be good and it will be a fantastic day.”
The parade will start at 11.15am and make its way through Cardenden down to Wallsgreen Park. Among the guests will be Provost of Fife, Jim Leishman.
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