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The issue:
How to involve the indigenous language of the Highlands and Islands in a contemporary sporting event.
The solution:
The incredible success of the Bealach na Ba challenge cycling events has catapulted the north of Scotland as a major destination for UK cyclists. Twice a year, the Applecross peninsula begins to resemble the Alps, the Dolomites or the Pyrenees as hundreds of riders experience mass-participation cycling events, known as ‘cyclo-sportifs’. 2007’s challenge events gave them a chance to relate the beautiful scenery to the language that gives the event’s main obstacle – at 2054 feet, the highest road pass in Britain – its name.
Kathy Boocock from Strathpuffer Ltd, recognised that while the outstanding landscape of north-west Scotland can sell almost anything, the Gaelic language offered an extra USP.
“We’d attended a presentation organised to promote Highland 2007, and one of the participants was giving information on how people could use Gaelic in their events. With the Bealach na Ba Challenge, we were in the ideal situation to use Gaelic, a living language, in its natural setting. In the Highlands, especially in the north-west where our event happens, people still have Gaelic as their everyday language.
Although we feel our event stands out, having Gaelic makes it unique – it’s just something you won’t find at any other cyclo-sportif in the UK. Gaelic is a special aspect of the Highlands and Islands.
The road signs are bilingual and give an idea of what the words mean … but just a taste! ‘Bealach’ means a mountain pass but it’s not your average road!”
European cyclo-sportifs can be massive in scale with between 10,000 and 20,000 people taking part, and these events are all multilingual, so there is no reason why Gaelic can’t be a sporting language like French, Dutch or Italian. It also shows Scotland is not a mono-lingual nation.
So what prompted the decision to use Gaelic in this year’s event? “We decided to put some Gaelic phrases on the route card, as a bit of fun to counteract the nasty hill in the middle of the route profile. All the comments we’ve had about using Gaelic have been positive and people have enjoyed seeing it and had a bit of fun. Next year, we hope to add more and it would be great if we could have someone speaking too, so that participants can hear Gaelic. It also proves that the language is flexible and contemporary, rather than being an artefact.
The advantages that the events have brought to the Highlands are not just cultural or sporting. “We feel that using Gaelic added something to the event this year, and that the Bealach na Ba Challenge is getting stronger. It all goes towards promoting the north-west Highlands, which benefits the local economy. The participants often come for training weekends before the event – they stay over and eat out, and then whole families might come to support Mum or Dad or whoever on the day, which puts more money into local businesses.
Already, hotels in the starting locations are fully booked for 2008 and cafés around the routes always report good business.”
Lessons learned:
No matter what the event, or the subject matter, Gaelic can be just as flexible as any other language.
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