Highland Games To Bring Scottish Culture To Alameda County Fairgrounds

PLEASANTON, CA — Grab your kilts and bagpipes: the Highland Games are coming to town.

The Alameda County Fairgrounds will host the 157th Scottish Highland Gathering and Games, a two-day celebration of all things Scottish. On Saturday and Sunday, lairds and ladies can enjoy:

• 2023 Women’s World and US Men & Women’s Heavy Athletic Championships, which include traditional Scottish hammer throwing, putting the stone, weight for height & distance, and sheaf & caber tossing events. Click on the link for schedules.
• Highland Dance competitions
• Piping & Drumming competitions
• 5-A Side Football (soccer) competitions
• Birds of Prey Exhibition, featuring flying demonstrations with eagles, hawks, owls and falcons.
• Celtic Animals like pigs, cows, sheep and horses.
• Celtic Heritage performances like Scottish country dancers, Irish dancers, fiddlers, and other traditional performances.
• Clans & Scottish Societies in the Glen of Clans
• Classic Cars will feature legendary British antique cars like Aston Martin, MGs, and Morgans.
• Entertainers like Scottish folk singer Peter Daldry, fiddler Michael Mullen, Celtic rock bands Albannach and Tempest, and Celtic folks musicians the Katie Jane Band and Steve MacDonald.
• Opening and Closing Ceremonies that will feature a band march-off with hundreds of pipers and drummers, a kilted mile run, heavy athletics competitions, and more.
• Living History, featuring costume demonstrations of medieval Scottish life.
• Sheepdog Trials, where border collies herd sheep.
• Vendors selling everything from Scottish pies to kilts and jewelry.
• Whisky Tasting featuring brands from around the world.

The games reenact heavy athletic events that have taken place in Scotland for at least 1,000 years. The Highland Games were started in 1866 by the Caledonian Club of San Francisco to celebrate that heritage. They were first held in San Francisco, then Sausalito, then Oakland. In 1962 they moved to Santa Rosa, and in 1994 moved to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. On Labor Day Weekend, the Sesquicentennial games drew crowds of up to 50,000, the largest Scottish gathering in the United States.

Tickets cost $35 per day per adult, $20 for seniors and youth, and are free for children 11 or under or active service members.

Two-day admission costs $60 for adults, $35 for seniors and youth, and is free for children 11 or under or active service members.

For more informationand a site map,visit thescottishgames.com.