16/06/08. The overall winner of the 2008 Guid Nychburris Schools Handwriting Competition is Emily Mackenzie, a primary 5 pupil from St Michaels Primary School. Emily`s entry was selected by judge Hugh Bryden of Dumfries, from the massive 1098 entries received.

See the `Schools Hand Writing Competition` page, within `This Year`s Events`, for more detail and the full results list.     

16/06/08. The Guid Nychburris Autotest, organised by the South of Scotland Car Club attracted 31 entries, the eventual winner being past Scottish Autotest Champion, Gordon Clendinning, of New Galloway in his Nova.

The fierce competition lasted all afternoon and this was followed by a charity `sweep` where for £1 per attempt, drivers tried to beat each other`s times, this also being won by Gordon Clendinning. As the event was run in aid of the Childrens Ward at Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary, all donations were gratefully received and a grand total of £150 was tallied at the end of the event.  

Queen of the South 2007, Meghan McGill, was on hand to award Gordon with the Guid Nychburris trophy, but not before Gordon had taken her on the traditional high speed trip of the course in both forward and reverse gears. Perhaps it`s a good thing that this is one of the last tasks a Queen of the South has to perform before handing over her title to the new Queen !. However, Meghan came through the ordeal with not a hair out of place !.

Also making a short visit was Anthony Davidson, test driver for the Honda F1 Racing Team. Anthony agreed to a short photo session for the club but declined to take part in the Autotest, as he had never done anything like this before, having started his racing career in Karts.

Thanks to all who participated in great Gyuid Nychburris event and donated so generously to the charity fund.  

16/06/08. Guid Nychburris Window Dressing Competition. See more information on the `Shop Window Competition` page within `This Year`s Events`. Here are the results:

Catergory 1 - `Retail`: Ist, Gee Gees of Whitesands. 2nd equal, Barbours of Buccleuch Street with `Cornets Ball` and Gowans of English Street, with `Midsummer Solstis`. 3rd, Canine Rescue, The Vennel with `Summer Picnic`.

Category 2 - `Non- Retail`: 1st, Shylocks of St Andrews Street, 2nd, Body & Soul at the Loreburne Centre with `A Teddy Bears Picnic`. 3rd, Beautified in Queebnsberry Street with `The Cavalcade`.

IST Overall and winner of the Alansound Perpetual Trophy, selected by judge Morag Morrison: Freckles Bridal Couture in Church Crescent with a beautiful display.

`Highly Commended` certificates were awarded to: Salon Bellisimo, Salon 67, Driver Hire Bank St, Bank St. Books, Edinburgh Woolen Mill, Dez Plans, Moshulu and Blooms Florists. Well done to all participants.   

13/06/08. We can now confirm that the Guid Nychburr Award for 2008 will be presented to Dumfries citizen, Peter (Pierluigi) Angelini at Monday night`s installation cermony at DG One. Of the 34 letters of nomination, 25 were in support of Peter recieving this accolade and by all accounts the award is deserved. Other very nice letters were recived nominating other Dumfries residents but the overwhelming support for Peter made the choice for the judges obvious. Well done to Peter and the other nominees and thank you to all those who took the trouble to write in.     

12/06/08. An astounding number of nominations have been recieved for this year`s Guid Nychburr Award. Chairman Colin Marshall normally recieves betwen five and ten nominations on an average year, but this year around 25 have come in. The result of the judging for this much sought after accolade, will be announced soon.

12/06/08. One of the latest unofficial Guid Nychburris events to be launched is the Guid Nychburris Kilted Pub Crawl, organised by kilt enthusiasts. The crawl will take place on Sunday 15th June, commencing in the Fleshers at 7.00pm and ending in the Globe Inn at 10.00pm, (assuming that anyone participating can still read a watch by that time !).

You`ll need a `free pass` for the night, possibly the next day off work, some pocket (Sporran) money and of course a kilt !. Phone Robertson Wellen on 0777 5566 141 for more information.  

06/06/08 Dont forget that entries for the Guid Nychburris Window Dresing Competition close today, June 6th. If you still dont have a form, contact Donna Gibson at Gee Gee`s on the Whitesands, right away. 

And talking of deadlines, Entries for the BIG PARADE close on Friday June 13th. A superb range of entries has already been recieved. Dont miss your chance to take part in this fun event, watched by an audience of thousands. Visit the `Big Parade` page, for a downloadable entry form.  

31/05/08. In a late change of personnell in the line-up of Principal Characters, Lauren Jack who sang `Queen of the South, a Song of Dumfries` during the 2007 Crowning Ceremony, will perform this song again in 2008. Lauren is said to be `over the moon` to again be taking part.     

28/05/08 The Guid Nychburris Magazine is now on sale at numerous outlets around Dumfries. For £2 this is a good read and is full of information and stories about Guid Nychburris events and those involved. Every penny raised goes toward Guid Nychburris so please support us by getting your copy.   

27/05/08 It`s just been confirmed today, that an additional Pipe Band will take part in the `Big Parade` and `Beating Retreat` on Guid Nychburris Day. The 20 strong Upper Nithsdale Youth Pipe Band will play at Guid Nychburris for the first time and all the members, who come from the Kirkconnell/Sanquhar area, are really looking forward to the experience. This brings our total number of bands to eight, ensuring that all band lovers will be well entertained.    

27/05/08 The first Rideout of the year took place on Friday night with a good turnout of riders and horses, stopping for the first time at Dickson`s Field. Lets see an equally good attendance of riders, horses and spectators at all the rest of the rideouts, details of which can be found on the `Rideouts` page. 

19/05/08 Having lost the sponsor who provided financial backing for last year`s Guid Nychburris Day High Street Entertainment, promoted and hosted by South West Sound, long time Guid Nychburris supporter, John Millar, has very generously stepped in and his Parkdale Garage (Cargenbridge) will be the title sponsor for this year`s roadshow. The Guid Nychburris Festival Executive Committee are extremely grateful for John`s support. John has, of course, had various roles to play in Guid Nychburris over the years and is a perfect example of the kind of continued ongoing support that the Festival receives each year from local businessmen and women.       

16/05/08 The Big Parade. If you have perhaps been put off entering a float in this years parade, due to the mud encountered at the Huntingdon Road assembly point after heavy rain in 2007, read on...... All decorated floats will this year assemble in St Marys Industrial Estate, making assembly, judging and despatch very much easier. The preserved vehicles will swop places with the floats and will this year use Huntingdon Market Car Park. Ten decorated floats are already entered - is your form on its way? 

15/05/08 No less than 1,100 entries have been recieved for the Schools Handwriting Competition. This is wonderful support from all the schools and their teaching staff who will ensure their pupils` entries are in on time to be judged.

Meantime, entries are now coming in for the Schools Football Tournament held over four nights and run by the mighty Queen of the South. Before that though, the Queens have another pressing engagement at Hampden. C`mon the Queens !.

15/05/08 Tune into GMTV on Friday May 23rd between 6.00am and 8.00am as the programme will be live from Dumfries. Several principals of Guid Nychburris will be on screen in this programme been aired in advance of the Scottish Cup Final between Queens and Glasgow Rangers.     

30/04/08 We hear that Joanne, the Cornets Lass for 2007, has twisted her knee in a horse riding accident. She was on crutches last week but we are hoping she will make a speedy recovery. We all wish her well.

30/04/08 Plans are afoot to bring one more pipe band to Dumfries on Guid Nychburris day to bring the total to a splendid eight. More information to follow. 

24/04/08 Entry forms for the `Big Parade` are now available on the Big Parade page of this website or at the Minicipal Chambers in Buccleuch Street, Dumfries. The parade will take place on Guid Nychburris Day, Saturday June 21st but due to the large number of entries again expected, entries will close on Friday June 13th. 

10/04/08 The line-up of bands confirmed for this year`s `Big Parade` and Beating Retreat, which takes place immediately after the parade, in alphabetical order are: Buccleuch & Queensberry Pipe Band, Corberry Pipers, Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary Pipe Band, Dumfries Town Band, Langholm Pipe Band, Lochmaben Pipe Band & Lockerbie Pipe Band.  

10/04/08 Guid Nychburris day will carry an extra bit of nostalgia this year as `Martha` the Steam Bus, built in 1932, will grace the streets of Dumfries carrying paying passengers all day around a route which will be publicised nearer to June 21st. This old 32 seater bus runs on coal and for those of you old enough to remember the heady aroma that you could only get from a steam train, this will bring those days flooding back. Martha will, of course, also participate in the `Big Parade`. This is a sight not to be missed. 

03/04/08 With Beating Retreat having been such a success in 2007 when it was held for the first time in Buccleuch Street, the extra bands booked for this year`s parade & beating retreat will add to the spectacle. With this number of bands participating, the Guid Nychburris Association felt a little bit of competition would be in order and are delighted to announce that two trophies will be up for grabs at this years beating retreat, one for `Best Band` and one for `Best Turned Out` band. Thanks to Morrell of John McQueen Trophies and John McQueen himself, for their kind support in providing the trophies. 

19/03/08 Tonight`s Launch Night for the 2008 Guid Nychburris Festival was the best attended for years, and in the very cordial atmosphere all the newcomers got their first taste of what was to come. During the question and answer session, there was light relief when one of the Lynors asked "what`s a rising trot ?". It was obvious he wasn`t loooking for an answer but it certainly broke the ice !. Then it was the turn of Anne Barbour to get the rehearsals for the various ceremonies organised, so now things are progressing nicely toward the big week, but there`s a lot of work to get through before then.      

03/03/08 Maxwelltown High School has today announced the Queen of the South, her Attendants, the Key Bearers and Singer for 2008. They are: Queen of the South - Abbey Kerr, Attendants - Abby Black & Nikki Watson, Key Bearers - Shannon Anderson & Lisa Plunkett and this years Singer is Ashleigh Stevenson.  

14/02/08 The 2008 Guid Nychburris `Launch Night` will take place on Wednesday March 19th at the Municipal Chambers, Buccleuch Street, Dumfries at 7.00pm. Here all the principals for 2008 will be introduced after which, rehearsals and preparations for the big week will commence.  

All the latest news on Guid Nychburris 2008 will appear here as it happens. 

If you have snaps of any Guid Nychburris events or Cornets, Cornets Lasses or Queens of the South from previous years, send them in to roland.proudlock@btconnect.com and subject to suitability and quality, they may appear on this website.