The Scottish Highland Games are annual festivals that celebrate Scottish culture. Highland games can be found throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Scotland, of course. Scottish highland games are also popular in Australia and New Zealand.

What are the main attractions at a Scottish Highland Games?

The clans, the music (piping, bands, drumming, Scottish harp, fiddling), the vendors, the ceilidh, the animals, the dancing, and the athletics (light athletics, heavy athletics, Scottish wrestling, tug-of-war). Some of the attractions may be in the form of a demonstration or exhibition, while other events may be actual competitions, involving judges, scoring, and prizes.

Ceilidh

The ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee) is a formal dance held indoors, usually the evening before the games. Patrons, special guests, and other VIPs attend. Some wear formal Scottish attire. You usually need reservations and tickets to go to the Ceilidh.

What is Heavy Athletics?

Heavy athletics refer to the athletic events, which require significant strength and power, as opposed to the light athletics, which require stamina, such as highland dancing, sprinting, running, and jumping. In general, lightweight persons tend to gravitate toward the light athletics, while the heavyweights excel in heavy athletics. Heavy athletics include stone throwing, weight tossing, hammer throwing, caber turning, and sheaf tossing.

Stones

Description: The stone put, or clachneart, involves "putting" the stone as far as possible. The stone must be put; i.e. like in the shot put; the stone may not be thrown from behind like a baseball, underarm like a softball, or overhead with two hands.

Weights

Description: The weights are 28-pound (2-stone) and 56-pound (4-stone). Women's weights are one and two stone (#14 and #28). In most Scottish games, the lightweight is thrown and the heavy weight is tossed. That is, a throw is measured by distance, while a toss is measured by height. In the many U.S. games, the heavy weight is also thrown for distance. Masters and lightweights use a three-stone (#42) instead of the #56 for both throwing and tossing.

The Hammer Throw

Description: The Scottish hammer has a total length not exceeding of 4'2". The weight of the light hammer is 16 pounds, and the heavy hammer weighs 22 pounds. Women: light hammer is #12 and heavy hammer is #16.

The Sheaf Toss

Description: The sheaf is a #16 or #20 bag of hay (#10 or #12 women) that is tossed over a bar with a three-tyned pitchfork. It is conducted like the #56 weight toss, except it goes about twice as high

Turning the Caber

Description: The caber is basically a log that athletes attempt to flip end-over-end. The head judge, who follows behind the athlete to get the best view, judges the caber by the straightness of the turn. The event is sometimes referred to as the caber toss, but this is incorrect because the caber is not tossed; it is not heaved over a bar.