<< Back 6/12/02 Taste of Scotland brings food, pipers, clans to Franklin SMN The 61st Annual Taste of Scotland Festival will be held June 14 and 15 in Franklin. The festivities will begin with one of the best-known Scottish singers and guitarists in this country, Alex Beaton. A featured performer at the Highland Games of Grandfather Mountain and Stone Mountain, this will be Beaton’s first performance at the Taste of Scotland Festival. The performance begins at 7 p.m. at the Fine Arts Building at U.S. 441 and Porter Street. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased in advance at the Scottish Tartan Museum or the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. Tickets will be available at the door if the show doesn’t sell out. A fiddle and drum group out of Johnson City, Tenn., Celtic Air, will also be performing. In addition, on Friday night Franklin’s own piper, Jean Hayes, and Grandfather Mountain jaw harp champion, Matt Newsome. “from glen to glen and down the mountainside. The Taste of Scotland will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in downtown Franklin. Scottish foods, from baked goods to haggis, as well as Scottish crafts, will be available. Also, clan members will have information tents set up. The Chattahoochee Celtic Pipes & Drums and the Highland Pipes & Drums will be leading the parade of clans and entertainers at 10:30 a.m.. The Brae Moor Scottish Highland Dancers from Loganville, Ga., Rural Felicity and Sticks in the Mud from Hayesville, along with the Macon County Scottish Country Dancers, will appear on the Main Stage. Joshua Bulla, an accomplished young musician from Dillsboro, will be playing the bagpipes and the harp on the Main Stage, Stage Two, and in the Scottish Tartan Museum. In addition to the continuous musical entertainment, Bill Coburn from Windy Knoll Farms in Laurens, S.C., will demonstrate sheep-herding with his champion border collies. There will also be demonstrations of spinning, weaving, wood carving, ancient weapons and sword fighting. Scottish cows, deerhounds and terriers will be on display. Contests with prizes include: shortbread baking, knobby knees, design your coat of arms, weave your own tartan, Scottish cultural search and calling of the clans. There will also be plenty of games and activities for children. For more information about the concert and the festival call 828.524.6964 or visit the website at www.scottishtartans.org.