Hansard

The major festivals such as the Edinburgh international festival, T in the Park, Celtic Connections, the St Magnus festival and so on are all hugely important to Scotland's culture and economy. I was slightly surprised to learn that the minister had made his festival debut only within the past year. My festival debut preceded his by almost 10 years. In 1999, I and a number of other MSPs including Mr McGrigor took part in the Edinburgh festival fringe, where Mr McGrigor's rendition of "Hairy Mary" was a stunning success, possibly because it starred the Presiding Officer wearing fishnet tights. He will probably never call me again at First Minister's question time now that I have divulged that information.

Like other colleagues such as Karen Gillon and Alasdair Allan, I want to highlight the contribution of local festivals to the wellbeing, identity, confidence and economy of the area in which they take place. I place on record my gratitude to the volunteers in my constituency who, year after year, invest time, effort, and commitment into making such events a success.

As Alasdair Allan said, the common ridings and ridings of the marches in the Borders and elsewhere in the south of Scotland are famous. The origins of many festivals date back to the time of the Border reivers, when the young men of the community would ride round the burgh boundaries to check that its landmarks had not been tampered with—either by marauding English people or, indeed, by other families trying to gain advantage over the warring factions in the Borders.

None of the ridings events is a single-day celebration. Each is preceded by a week or a fortnight of cultural, leisure and sporting activities, which are organised to bring the community together. Such activities reinforce community identity and confidence. The first such event in my constituency—the popular Lockerbie gala and common riding—took place last Saturday.

Following that, the guid nychburris festival in Dumfries has been going on all this week. The riding of the marches and the crowning of the queen of the south on Saturday celebrate the granting of royal burgh status to Dumfries by King Robert III in 1186. Indeed, my own horse will take part in the riding, although—I say this before the Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution becomes too excited about the prospect of a by-election—it will not be I who will be on his back.

Annan riding of the marches, which takes places on the first Saturday in July, lays claim—as do others—to a tradition that is well over 600 years old. However, the event has developed over time and has added a gala. A more recent addition is the pipe band contest, which is an increasingly important part of the day. The contest, which now attracts more than 25 bands from across Scotland, culminates in a massed pipe bands and drums performance in Annan High Street in the evening. The closing rendition of "Highland Cathedral" cannot fail to make the hairs rise on the back of the neck of those who listen to it.

Langholm common riding, like Selkirk's, may lay claim to an even more ancient heritage. The common riding, which takes place on the last Friday of July, attracts tourists from across the United Kingdom. As Karen Gillon said, the occasion is a true homecoming event, because visitors come back year after year. Langholm common riding celebrates the definition of the boundaries of the town and of the rights of the community that were granted by the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

In fact, the origins of these ancient common ridings might be the Celtic Lughnasadh—or, in Anglo-Saxon, Lammas—festivals that took place around the end of July or beginning of August to mark the beginning of the harvest. Such festivals were associated with horsemanship and horse-racing in honour of the Celtic goddess Epona. Indeed, horse-racing and horsemanship are very much part of the Langholm common riding. I am always amazed that the gallop up the narrow Kirk Wynd, lined with observers, still manages to escape the health and safety police, but long may it do so. However—as my mother is currently in the public gallery—I must confess that my decision once to invite my mother and father and all our dogs to stand at the bottom of Kirk Wynd as the cornet and the entire procession of horses passed by at full gallop was probably one of the most foolhardy decisions that I have taken.

Galas also take place in Moffat, Lochmaben, Eastriggs, Brydekirk and Kirkpatrick Fleming. In each case, the gala—whether large or small—promotes a sense of community identity, attracts visitors and thereby supports the local economy.

However, the organisers of such marvellous events have been subject to increased bureaucracy as a result of the Parliament passing legislation such as the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006. The relevant provisions of that act were intended to deal with the important public order issues that can arise from sectarian marches and political demonstrations. Councils now require the organisers of events to provide various bits of information, some of which are totally irrelevant to common ridings, galas or remembrance parades.

When I raised the issue of the burden of such unnecessary bureaucracy on traditional galas and so on last year, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice advised me that Dumfries and Galloway Council could apply to the Scottish ministers for an exemption for certain types of procession, such as common ridings, galas or remembrance day parades. Dumfries and Galloway Council wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in November 2008 to apply for an exemption for such events. Five months later, with the common riding and gala season only weeks away, Mr MacAskill eventually responded and turned down the council's request.

I understand that one of the long-standing organisers of the Langholm common riding, Stuart Thomson, has already spoken to the culture minister about that, but I, too, ask him to support Dumfries and Galloway Council's request for an exemption. Such events rely on the good will of volunteers who give up huge amounts of their time, without pay. As soon as one event is finished, the organisers start to arrange the following year's event. They do not need to be treated as if they were organisers of political demonstrations or sectarian marches. Will the minister speak to Mr MacAskill about that so that, if Dumfries and Galloway Council repeats its request next year, we can perhaps get it granted?