Glasgow 2014 today (Monday 17 March) revealed the list of Scotland’s villages, towns and cities which will welcome the Queen’s Baton Relay.

The Queen’s Baton Relay provides a great opportunity for the Scottish public to celebrate community sport and get behind local athletes who will represent Team Scotland.

The baton will visit over 400 communities, offering people across the nation a chance to be a part of the excitement, celebrations and countdown to Scotland’s biggest-ever sporting and cultural festival, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and show their support for the home team.

The relay will reflect the important role of sport by visiting schools, sporting facilities and leisure centres, encouraging communities to get behind Team Scotland, get involved with the Games and using its profile to get more people participating in sport.

From the spires of Edinburgh to the peaks of the Highlands, from Scottish Borders’ woodlands to island beaches, the baton will travel across all 32 Local Authorities in the nation before it reaches Glasgow, its final destination.

Brae, in the Shetland Islands, is the farthest northern village on the baton’s journey, and Kirkcudbright, in Dumfries and Galloway, the southernmost point on the relay’s route.

Communities will be celebrating in extraordinary and unique ways. More than 60 schoolchildren will travel from the Island of Unst, a two-ferry journey to the Shetland mainland, to join the relay in the village of Brae. For the first time in the history of a relay, people across the length of the Outer Hebrides, from Castlebay in Barra to the most northerly point at Butt of Lewis lighthouse, will be able to join celebrations across five different events along the route.

The 40-day journey of the baton will cover 8,000 kilometres, showcasing the nation’s most-iconic landmarks and culture.
World-famous sights such as the Forth Bridge and Loch Ness feature on the baton’s journey, as well as The Kelpies, Falkirk’s 30 metre-high dazzling horse head sculptures.
Scotland’s rich heritage takes centre stage when the baton visits Skara Brae in the Orkney Isles and travels along the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Highlands.

Sporting highlights on the route include visits to Melrose, the home of Rugby Sevens, Knockhill’s Racing Circuit, a visit to Team Scotland’s training camp at the University of Stirling and a stop at St Andrew’s Old Course, the home of golf.
The baton will take part in one of Scotland’s favourite festivities, as it steps forward for a Ceilidh in Dundee.

Further highlights on the baton’s journey through Scotland, as well as street level details and full programme of events, will be announced nearer the time.

On 31 March thousands of people will find out whether their nominations to become batonbearers have been successful.
When it arrives in Scotland on 14 June, the baton will have been on 248-day global epic journey through all other 69 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.

On 23 July, the message Her Majesty placed in the baton will be read at the Opening Ceremony.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is the world’s most engaging relay, a unique tradition of the Games that unites the two billion citizens of the Commonwealth in a celebration of sport, diversity and peace. It will travel over 190,000 kilometres through 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.

Announcing the full list of communities on the baton’s journey, Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman Michael Cavanagh said:
“The Queen’s Baton Relay is the ultimate symbol of the Commonwealth Games and its arrival in Scotland will be an important signal to both the athletes and the public that the Games are just around the corner.
The baton’s journey through the country is the ideal opportunity for people to celebrate community sport and show support for their local athletes selected to represent Team Scotland at Glasgow 2014. We hope everyone the length and breadth of the country will get behind the team and play their part in what is going to be an amazing home Games!”

David Grevemberg, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014, said:
“The Queen’s Baton Relay is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people across Scotland to celebrate what’s extraordinary and unique about their communities, and honour those locals who make a difference to others. The baton is visiting hundreds of villages, towns and cities, with thousands taking part in the relay, and many more attending the vast programme of sports and cultural events along the route. With less than three months to go until the baton comes home to Scotland, the momentum is building up for the biggest festival of sport and culture this nation has ever hosted”.
Download: Queen’s Baton Relay – Factsheet