Real summer feel to Highland Gathering

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Never before has it rained during the local Highland Gathering in Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang.

But this year was different and rain poured down for two hours, resembling summer in Scotland, where at the height of the season an umbrella is often needed to protect oneself from the rain.

"We didn't hire a pawang hujan (rain diverter) this year," gathering patron Gordon Grant Benton said on Sunday, saying jokingly that rain wizards were getting expensive.

If it wasn't for the effect global warming has had on the weather, it would have been a dry day in Tangerang on Sunday.

But rain it did and for two hours activities were stalled as people took shelter. Some walked around the venue barefoot, carrying an umbrella.

As soon as the rain stopped at midday, bagpipes started wailing and people started swarming onto the field where dozens of attractions were taking place.

Like previous years, the 28th gathering had "imported" heavies from Scotland and New Zealand. The heavies showed their skill in tossing cabers and throwing hammers and weights.

Later in the afternoon, expats and Indonesians kicked up their heels in several Scottish dances like the Reel of Five and the White Heather Jig.

Meanwhile, several eight-men-strong teams competed to clinch the coveted gold medal of the Reel of the 51st.

"My team was the winner of the gold medal last year and the previous year," Benton said, smiling broadly while pointing to competitors whom he claimed were perpetual silver winners who would never win the gold.

Besides the Reel of the 51st, the gathering also hosted a piping and drumming competition, a tug-of-war and soccer game.

This year, the popular wood-cutting competition was not on the program.

The gather was closed with a fiery ritual Up-Helly-A, in which a nine-meter model longship was set on fire with torches carried by men clad in kilts.

In 2001, Scottish chieftains in Indonesia registered a tartan that incorporated the white and red colors of the host country and the Scottish colors of blue and white. The tartan, hunting tartan and dress tartan are called the Java St. Andrew Society tartan.

The gathering organizer said the all-day fiesta usually attracted about 20,000 people, a quarter of them expatriates.