Saturday 29th May saw the people of Comrie coming together in celebration of not only the community asset that is Cultybraggan but also all that the community as a whole has achieved since the community purchased Cultybraggan in September 2007. The day had two strands to it: one being a free community event and the other being a ticketed music event (the first of it’s size to be held in Comrie).
Within the community event part of Culty Quake everyone enjoyed (despite the challenging weather on the day) a selection of information stalls to educate on green issues, tree planting, home energy bill reduction and insulating your home as well as how to improve your recycling and reducing your home waste. The visitors were treated to an array of stalls manned by local businesses promoting themselves and local groups who were fund raising as well as the many craft stalls in the crafts market which tempted visitors with delights such as willow weaving, spinning and felt making, jewellery, art, books and aromatherapy to name but a few. Everyone was well fed from the food stalls serving such delights as sausage rolls, pizza, drinks and giant scones !
The younger visitors were catered for with face painting, football, volleyball and inflatable laser quest all supplied by local groups or businesses. The kids also had the opportunity to try skateboarding courtesy of the Comrie Skate Group on skate pieces the skate group built themselves as well as the chance to learn Parkour from a Glasgow based team that specialise in the art of street running.
The camp also played host to a “Green Forum” with the Trust being delighted to welcome Alex Hill the Met Office’s Chief Advisor to Government in Scotland and Mike Robinson of Stop Climate Chaos who both gave fabulous presentations on Climate Change. Both presenters gave very informative and thought provoking talks after which the audience asked them questions.
The Trust itself had displays with all sorts of information and exhibitions on how the work of the Trust is progressing and benefits Comrie. The local Oral History Group were proudly displaying and selling their recently published booklet on Cultybraggan called “Camp 21” as well as being on hand to talk to visitors interested in the history of Cultybraggan. There were drama performances by the Comrie Youth Theatre Group who performed a short piece they had written themselves called “Who says it’s rubbish’” which was perfect for the ‘green’ theme of the event.
A free vintage bus service was laid on courtesy of Stagecoach as the event itself was “car free”, the local Comrie Community bus also ran from Comrie village throughout the day to transport people to and from Cultybraggan.
The event was a huge success for all concerned even although at times it was rather damp the Crieff Pipe Band kept everyones spirits up as they valiantly played in the drizzle.
