Burns theme for Maybole Gala

Jun 19 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

IT’S SUNDAY best this year for Maybole Gala – for the first time ever.

And organisers are re-visiting a Burns theme that has served the town well.

This time the Bard’s parents, William and Agnes, return to Maybole with baby Robert.

And it’s set to be a great Maybole contribution to The Homecoming year.

The town staged its Robert Burns . . . where it began project in 2007, to mark the 250th anniversary of his parents’ marriage in the town in 1757.

Now Agnes is ‘coming home’ with her husband and their baby to join in the fun of a Homecoming Day and Market Fair.

Agnes of course went to live in Alloway with William, and it was there that their son was born on January 25, 1759.

The fun starts in local villages with three pipe bands playing concerts from 10am in Straiton, Minishant and Maidens. And at 10.45 they will be in Crosshill, Kirkmichael and Kirkoswald.

The market fair opens at noon, and 40 stalls have been booked by local organisations for the area around Maybole Town Hall and the Greenside.

There will be a full programme of entertainment as well.

The Homecoming parade starts from Carrick Academy at 12.45pm with Maybole Pipe Band leading the royal entourage. Other Pipe bands will join in at Ladyland Road and at Maybole Castle before the parade proceeds to the Greenside.

Niall Murphy and Sam Currie, pupils at St Cuthbert’s Primary, will be crowned the King and Queen of Carrick at the Greenside.

The royal couple will be accompanied by attendants Erin Coyne and Ryan Wilson, Cairn Primary; and Julie Dalton and Corey Best, Gardenrose Primary.

In the evening, Maybole Pipe Band will perform in the Town Hall at 7.30pm and will be followed by the world famous Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

Tickets for this are available from June Dunlop, florist, in Maybole High Street.