On Fathers’ Day weekend Franklin will be awash with the colors of authentic Scottish tartans, the aroma of Scottish food and the dramatic music of bagpipe and drum bands. Franklin’s 13th annual Taste of Scotland Festival will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, June 19, at with a free Ceilidh at the Stewart Street stage (behind the Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center) with live Celtic music and dance.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, the streets will be alive with free continuous entertainment, including Celtic dance and music groups, a parade of tartans at 10:30 a.m. led by John Mohr MacKintosh Pipes and Drums, Scottish clans, children’s games, the hilarious Knobby Knees Contest, and Brasstown’s own Rural Felicity Dancers and Stix in the Mud. Also featured are Franklin’s own piper Jean Hayes, piper David Landis, Dunham Harps of Westerville, Ohio, Nashville’s favorite Celtic Band Nosey Flynn, ArtSaturday for wee laddies and lassies from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Nikwasi Dulcimer Players, and Scottish food and vendors.

Shepherds return

Returning this year will be one of the most popular events of the festival, Bill Coburn and his border collies. They will demonstrate several times on Saturday and have agreed to stay over and perform on Sunday afternoon behind the Burrell Building. Bill’s unique relationship with border collies began 15 years ago when he became interested in training his collie to herd cattle on his Windy Knoll Farm in Laurens, S.C.

Coburn said he knew nothing about how to go about turning his pet into a working dog until he met a man who had trained his own dog. He agreed to help Coburn learn the ropes, and thus he became a well-known and respected exhibition and competition border collie trainer.

Coburn says he was lucky to have a very good dog when he was a beginner. Joy was his first border collie, and the two worked as a team. Although Joy has since passed on, Coburn counts several of her offspring among his current award-winning dogs. Bud, 10 years old, and Hope, 8, generally rank in the top 10 percent of border collies in competitions and are currently the “stars” of the 5-dog family.

The young dogs first start working on the farm, and then after a year they are introduced to the world of exhibitions. Coburn says border collies make good pets and are workaholics. On the farm the dogs practice herding ducks and goats. Goats are very difficult to herd, and Coburn says if a dog can work with goats, he or she will have no problem herding sheep.

During exhibitions Coburn his voice to direct the dogs when they are nearby and whistles when they are far away. Common commands are “come by” (go left), “way to me”( go right), and “that’ll do.” When the dogs retire they spend the rest of their lives working when they can.

The border collie exhibitions are much in demand along the East coast, particularly at Scottish Games. Coburn also provides programs for children, schools, and for hospitalized children, and does this free of charge. Surprisingly, the talents of border collies extend to some pretty unusual uses. Coburn has sold border collies to golf courses to keep geese off the putting greens, to airports to keep seagulls off the runways, and even to countries in South America for search and rescue operations!

Museum, more events

The Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center, the only one in the United States, will be open from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday afternoon for festival-goers to get help researching their Scottish heritage and their clan tartan and take free guided tours. Matt Newsome, the museum curator and master kilt maker, will be on hand. The public can be fitted for an authentic kilt and make purchases of authentic Scottish items in the museum’s large gift shop.

On Sunday the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan will be held at the First Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. followed by border collie demonstrations at 1:30 p.m. as well as free museum tours and free ice cream for kids of all ages.

For more information call 828.524.7472 or visit www.tasteofscotlandfestival.org.