General News
6 January, 2026
Highland Gathering 2026 sees crowd numbers swell to ring in the new year
Maryborough’s 163rd Highland Gathering drew a monumental crowd of spectators last week, as a vast congregation commemorated Scottish culture under the “perfect” weather of New Years’ Day
Commencing with the parade down High Street, traditional highland dancing, heavy events and continuous athletics returned to one of the nation’s most authentic highland gatherings.
Maryborough Highland Society’s Nick Weaver was thrilled to see surprisingly far more spectators at Princes Park than last year.
“We are looking at somewhere between two to three thousand people attending, we were well up from last year, maybe $6000 more than 2025 from gate takings,” he said.
“When it comes to crowds on New Year’s Day, you’re either going to make it, or not going to make it, but the weather was just perfect, there was a breeze, the sun was out, it was just a beautiful day. Everyone came out. Obviously, our pipe bands and our Scottish dancing was awesome.”
This year also marked 50 years of the popular Girl on Drum, which brought in additional guests to commemorate the special occasion.
“We tried to have all 13 Girl on the Drum dancers, and they came with their families as well. The grandstand was packed with people watching. It’s so special and brave to get up there and do that dance. While you’re watching, you can hear a pin drop, it’s so quiet,” Mr Weaver said.
“We had a past winner of the Gift as our guest speaker at the VIP luncheon. The football clubrooms, I have never seen them so full. It was a fantastic day, it really was.
“Of actual athletes we had 549, that was just the running athletes. We had 20 strong man and strong lady events, and we had 60 to 80 members of the pipe band there too. When you put those people together, that’s over 600 people.
“Speaking to the Victorian Athletic League CEO, he felt the gathering was a different event in their calendar with all the pipe bands, the cultural side of it.”
This year also saw the addition of the popular paddle boats, returning from the 2025 Energy Breakthrough.
Mr Weaver said different events rotating each year is simply down to cost of the overall day.
“Things come down to cost sometimes, especially when we put prize money into it. It would be great to see a major sponsor come on board, that would be awesome in future,” he said.
“We are already starting to put things together for next year.”
Mr Weaver added the event’s success each year is made possible with the mammoth effort of volunteers, all of who he feels “can’t get thanked enough”.
“We have an amazing group of volunteers. We prepare up to three days before hand, and there are certain points on the oval where everything is measured exactly as we do every year. There is so much that they do,” he said.
“The Maryborough Volunteer Resource Group and Carisbrook Lions Club was great, we thank them all the time but they can’t get thanked enough. Without them, our management and staff wouldn’t know what to do. We are very fortunate to have them involved in our events in Maryborough.”