About
We don’t know if anything creates more summertime nostalgia for people from Inverness County than parade flags! The hanging of colourful pennant banners from poll to poll, crossing Central Avenue, marked the beginning of Inverness Gathering Week.
The Gathering has been an annual festival for close to 50 years. It was built in the tradition of Old Home Week, which marked 50 years of the town’s incorporation in 1954 and then the 75th Gathering of the Clans anniversary in 1979.
Gathering Week has always meant the arrival of family from away, the return of old friends, races under the lights, floats being built, games of chance, sizzling BBQs, full beach days, live music every day of the week and, of course, late nights for all – young and old! It’s a time for celebrating and sharing the beauty of all that we have to offer with visitors, travelers, and each other.
Though the week is filled with fun and festivity, it’s actually about so much more. The Gathering is a time for honouring what we do best – caring for and connecting with our community. Each day of the week is dedicated to fundraising and support for our volunteer-led and community operated organizations:
Monday & Saturday
The Dr. Bernie MacLean Centre for Culture and Recreation
Tuesday
The Harbour Authority
Wednesday
The Inverness Raceway
Thursday
The Royal Canadian Legion
Friday
The Inverness Volunteer Firefighter's Association
Sunday
St. Margaret's of Scotland Parish
These are the organizations, the people and the volunteers who show up for our community when we need them the most. We are so incredibly lucky. Our volunteers give so much of themselves to see that our community has all that it needs! The Gathering Week is an opportunity to support these organizations and many more. As our community grows and changes we’ve seen the Inverness Development Association take on the Inverness Gathering Parade, the Inverness County Centre for the Arts hosting Hands Dancing and Sunset Series concerts, as well as the Inverness Women’s Group Annual Scavenger Hunt. It is an absolute treat to experience the hustle, bustle and energy of Gathering Week in Inverness!
Whether you live here all year long, make an annual trek to Inverness Gathering or are new to all things ‘Gathering Week’, we invite you to join in the fun and feel the joy of people coming together, gathering, in celebration of Inverness!
