EIGHT-YEAR-OLD schoolboy Ruaraidh Stephen has won a Scotland-wide competition to design a Highland Haggis Festival-themed gondola for the Nevis Range Mountain Experience.
The youngster (pictured), a P4 pupil at Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abar, a Gaelic-medium primary school in the village of Caol, near Fort William, Lochaber, said: “We have been busy learning about all the things that make Scotland good. We were trying to picture how a Haggis might look and we looked at some strange designs. I don’t really like to eat Haggis.”
The competition is part of the 2017 Highland Haggis Festival, the family and fun focused celebration of Scotland’s iconic national dish, that will be staged in the village of Spean Bridge, near Fort William in the outdoor capital of the UK, on the weekend of Saturday April 1.
Heather Negus, marketing manager at Nevis Range Mountain Experience, said: “We had almost 100 entries from children from schools and nurseries across the Fort William and Lochaber area and further afield. We even had entries from children as young as 6 months.
“It was an extremely tough job choosing a winner as the standard was so high.
As part of his prize Ruaraidh and his family will be guests of honour at the 2017 Highland Haggis Festival and he will officially open Sunday’s event. The whole of Ruaraidh’s class has also been invited to a giant tea party at Nevis Range to celebrate.
All entries will be displayed at Highland Haggis Festival venue Spean Bridge Primary School on Saturday April 2.
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