Scottish Games changes name

By Cindy Landrum  

JANUARY 26, 2012 4:51 p.m. (0)

The Greenville Scottish Games has outgrown its name.

What had been a weekend-long celebration of all things Scot has turned into a longer celebration this year that begins with the Miss Greenville Scottish Games pageant on Feb. 4 at Furman University’s McAlister Auditorium and ends with nearly a week of activities surrounding Memorial Day.

So the Games has a new name – Gallabrae, a combination of Scottish words meaning bold and daring.

“We continue to grow. We just can’t help it,” said Dee Benedict, president of the Greenville Scottish Games.

The inaugural pageant is expected to draw about a dozen contestants between the Miss Greenville Scottish Games and the Teen Greenville Scottish Games categories, said Dean Harbert, a member of the Greenville Scottish Games board and pageant facilitator. Contestants in the teen pageant must be between 13-years-old and 17-years-old. Contestants in the miss pageant are 18 years old to 25 years old.

The pageant is a preliminary to the Miss South Carolina pageant.

It is one of about 30 active preliminary pageants in the state, 10 of which are in the Upstate, Harbert said.

The pageant isn’t the games’ first tie to the Miss South Carolina pageant. Two years ago, Prince Edward attended the games and awarded 70 Duke of Edinburgh Awards to Miss South Carolina contestants who completed six to 12 months of physical fitness and community service activities to earn silver and bronze medals.

The games already has a Bountyland Lassie pageant for young children, Harbert said.

“It’s a good opportunity for the Greenville games to diversify,” he said.

Since the pageant is a festival pageant instead of a local pageant, contestants can be a resident or full-time student anywhere in South Carolina.

“It’s an opportunity to get the name of the game out and bring more people into Greenville,” Harbert said. “It’s a chance to showcase Greenville.”

Former Miss Golden Strip and Miss Electric City Tracy Bolt Kelly is helping Harbert put on the pageant.

The pageant will have a Scottish theme and the Greenville Pipes and Drums will perform.

“There will be lots of tartan, lots of kilts,” he said.

The contestants won’t perform in an opening or closing number so they can focus on the things on which they’re being judged, Harbert said.

The head judge has more than 20 years experience judging in the Miss America system and some of the other judges have extensive experience judging in the Miss America and Miss USA systems.

The celebrity judge will be from the MTV Teen Wolf series, Harbert said.

Interviews will be done on Saturday morning and the talent, evening gown and swimsuit competition for Miss Greenville Scottish Games contestants and the physical fitness competition for the teens will be done onstage, he said.

The winners will compete in the Miss South Carolina pageant in July.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.

Gallabrae will expand with the Highland Fling on the Wednesday and Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, Benedict said.

Costumed Scottish characters and re-enactors will give interactive performances throughout downtown Greenville on those nights, she said.

Musical events will also be held, she said.

On Friday of Memorial Day weekend, an event for Greenville veterans will be held in the afternoon.

“We’re going to take over downtown Greenville,” Benedict said.

The events that popularized the first six Greenville Scottish Games are back.

The Great Scot! Parade will be held Friday evening down Main Street.

Immediately after the parade, the Great Scot! Ceilidh will be held in the plaza by the Hyatt. The street party will feature Celtic rock bands.

The parade and Ceilidh are free.

On Saturday, the Highland Games will be held at Furman University.

And on Sunday, a Dark Corner Moonshine Run will be held for participants in the games’ car show.