The festivities commenced with the traditional parade where the sound of bagpipes led the way.

Maryborough Highland Society president Andrew Rae said the parade was a very important part of the annual gathering.

“The pipes, drums, and brass bands are fantastic and have always been a major attraction for the crowd at the parade,” Mr Rae said.

“The gathering has a lot of history within the region and is an event that brings people together to celebrate.”

Mr Rae said the gathering was the most important day of the year for the MHS.

“We’re a community based club,” Mr Rae said.

“With the money we raise we try and give as much of it as we can back into the local community.” 

Following the parade the festivities continued at Princes Park with more bands, traditional Scottish Highland Games and athletics.

The Maryborough and District Highland Pipe Band officially opened the gathering at Princes Park.

“We’ve been participating for quite some time and we love taking part in the gathering,” MDHPB president Sharon Hare said.

“We now have a lot of young people who are involved with the band and we are training them so that we can keep the tradition going.”

Mrs Hare described the moment when performing as a member of a pipe band as “incredible”. 

“When you start off and you’re called to attention...your hairs stand on end and you then phase out as you really need to concentrate on what you’re doing so that you can stay in time,” she said.

Joshua Plante travelled from Melbourne to Maryborough to compete in the traditional games.

Mr Plante first competed in the games in 2018 and was more than eager to return in 2019.

Some of the traditional games included the caber toss, weight throws and weight over the bar.

“The reason I like competing in Highland games is because of all the heritage behind it...it’s purely the natural side of it. I’m not a big fan of gyms and I love to be outdoors,” Mr Plante said.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.