The Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at Portsoy has sailed back in-person following a two-year absence.
The festival was opened by the Lord-Lieutenant of Banffshire, Andrew Simpson, who said it was “tremendous” to be back and “celebrating our important heritage”.
The first festival was first held in 1993 to celebrate the town’s old harbour turning 300 years old, but is now the key date on the town’s calendar.
The Portsoy Pipe Band was playing classic highland tunes throughout the day. The band’s oldest member on parade was 74, and the youngest was only 12.
Robert Legge, 21, the band major, said: “We are fully booked every weekend until late August. But this is definitely still the biggest event of the year.
“We practised all through the winter to be ready for today.”
The festival lives up to its name, all around were reminders of the history that was being celebrated.
One of them is the traditional folk music that could be heard throughout the day. Alan Burgess, 77, and Guy Burgess, 50, are a father and son folk duo who have been playing for years.
The crofters from Buckie play mainly sea shanties and folk music with a traditional mandolin, bodhran, and concertina – some of which are over 100 years old.
Guy Burgess said: “I remember being a child and hearing folk music from the crib.”
‘It’s music that you want to keep alive’
They both believe it is important to pass on the music to the younger generation.
They said: “Folk music stays the same, it’s traditional and timeless. It’s music that you want to keep alive.”
The atmosphere was excitable as people had a look through the dozens of stalls available.
Fiona Duncan, 63, ran a stall selling paintings she made on old ordnance survey maps. She travelled up from her home in Lincoln for the festival.
She said: “Lockdown came, and I thought why not try something different.
“It has snowballed since then. I mostly do events in Lincolnshire but thought I would come up to Portsoy for the festival.”
Later in the day was the widely anticipated raft race. The teams taking part included the fire service, coastguard, and a dental practice.
This year Chris Sutherland, 24, Matty Smith, 37, and David Forsyth, 36, all from Portsoy, were part of the winning fire service team.
‘We just got back from a callout’
At the 2019 festival they lost to the coastguard in the race. They said: “It felt good to beat the coastguard this year. We just got back from a callout earlier today in Hilton, and we didn’t think we would make it in time.
“But we are glad we did now, although our arms are knackered.”
Also at the festival was the much talked about Peaky Blinder’s boat and cars which appeared in the final season. Billy Milne, 42, and Jim Milne, 15, are a father and son pair from Macduff who own the boat.
Billy Milne, who started his career as a fisherman, said: “I have been coming to the boat festival since it started. There are people with skills here that go back to the turn of the century, it’s an important part of our heritage.”
The town, which has an estimated population of 1,500 people, will see visitor numbers ranging from 16,000 to 20,000 across the weekend.
GALLERY: Crowds and the sun come out for the Portsoy Boat Festival
Conversation