The 90th Anniversary of the Forres Highland Games kicked off with a bang on Saturday.
Forres and District Pipe Band led a procession of drummers and pipers up High Street in time for the opening ceremony at 12.30pm, where the official Forres Highlands Games flag was raised above to begin the showcase of Scottish sport.
Visitors from far and wide came to the event, which takes place every July in the magnificent setting of Grant Park.
Hot food, local trade stalls, fairground rides and face painting were all on offer alongside the traditional Scottish sports.
Grant Park came alive throughout the day with displays from highland dancers, solo pipers, and a mighty tug-o-war competition.
Despite the intense heat MaCones Ices ice cream truck, who were in attendance all day, reported to have only run out of one item: chocolate flakes.
A spokesman from MaCones said: “It was a great day and a wonderful local, friendly atmosphere.
“We are based in Inverness but always look forward to coming to Forres.
Fortunately we didn’t run out of any ice cream despite the heat.”
Unique to the Forres Highland Games was the exciting ‘Message Bike Race.’
Spectators were given the chance to turn into participants and race the field on old traditional message bikes, in hope of winning a first place trophy.
The day of activities ended at 5pm, with the traditional tossing of the caber.
Organiser Fred Davidson has been involved with the games for 35 years and was “so pleased” to see everything come together for the 90th Anniversary.
He said: “Forres has a tremendous community spirit. We don’t need to ask people to help, friends of the games come forward and lent a hand.
“On Friday afternoon two schoolboys came along to help us, then asked if there was anything to do in the evening as well.
“Overall the event went really well. We had a slightly lower turnout than last year but we can attribute that to the heat and the fact England were playing.”
“The team behind the games all felt weary by the end of the day but it was enjoyable to see everyone smiling and going home happy. That made it worthwhile.”
The Forres Highland Games committee will meet within the next month to review the games, and decide what can be done to make next year’s showcase of Scottish sport even more exciting and enjoyable.