Dunedin Taps Into Scottish Heritage During 55th Annual Highland Games

DUNEDIN, FL — For those of Scottish heritage, it's time to dig out your tartan clan kilts and head to Highlander Park in Dunedin for the 55th annual Dunedin Highland Games

And for those without a drop of Scottish blood in their DNA, the games are the next best thing to exploring the quaint Scottish baile mórs of Elgin or Airdrie, minus the ruins and runes.

This year's Highland Games will take place Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature Scottish bagpipers, drummers, Highland games of strength and skill, watch Ceilidh and Highland dancers, explore the wares and crafts of Celtic vendors, sample some haggis or cranachan and lift a mug of Irish brew.

Hosted by the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, the festival is one of the largest Scottish Highland Games held in the U.S.

In Scotland, the games date back to the 4th and 5th centuries and are intended to celebrate the country's culture and traditions.

More than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, the games held in the Florida west coast town of Dunedin serve a similar purpose for Americans of Scottish heritage.

The city of Dunedin kicked off the festival with a parade down Main Street Friday night.

Like their Scottish games they're modeled after, the Dunedin games feature many of the same competitions held in ancient times. More than 100 athletes will participate in caber toss, sheaf toss, hammer throw, stone throw and weight over bar competitions.

Run by the nonprofit Foundation for Scottish Athletics coordinated by Chris Hailey, the Highland Heavy Athletics will be overseen by athletic director Russ Overton and his team of judges.

Additionally, there will be more than 15 pipe bands consisting of 500 members and 110 solo pipers and tenor and snare drummers competing in contests sanctioned by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association. The 15 bands will also perform together under the direction of senior drum major Jason Matteson.

Pipe bands competing including Dunedin High School, the cities of Mount Dora, St. Augustine, Dunedin, Jamestown and Atlanta, St. Thomas Episcopal School, the Spacecoast Highlanders, Harp & Thistle, the Fort Lauderdale Highlanders and Rosie O' Grady's Highlanders.

Also on tap will be more than 100 Highland dancers competing in Official Board of Highland Dancing contests with traditional synchronized dances including the Scottish Lilt, Village Maid, Blue Bonnets, and Scotch Measure where timing and technique are key.

For the wee ones, there will be some less taxing games, sack races, arts and crafts, face painting and a balloon artist.

A Scottish clan village featuring exhibits by 35 clans and various Scottish societies and associations will be open for festival goers to explore and learn more about the tartans, kilt pins, sashes and shawls (earasaids and tonnags), shoes (ghillies and brogues) and woven Argyll jackets and well as the history and traditions of the country.

The Company of the Black Spear will have a demonstration of the Scottish Schiltron, a formation used to defeat the English in various conflicts including the Battle of Homlidon Hill on Sept. 14, 1402.

Festival attendees will also have a chance to see sheep-herding demonstrations. In contrast to the Old English Sheepdog with its shaggy coat and fur falling over its eyes that was used to guard sheep in England, the hard-working, agile border collie is generally used for sheep-herding in the Scottish mountains.

Schedule Of Events

• 8 a.m.: Athletics begin
• 8 a.m.: Highland dancing begins
• 8 a.m.: Solo piping and drumming begins
• 8 a.m.: The Clan Village opens
• 9 a.m.: The Kilted 5k Trail Run begins
• 11 a.m.: Clover's Revenge beer tent begins serving
• 11 a.m.: The Celtic trio, Shake, Rattle and Rogue, will perform Celtic music at Clan Village
• Noon: Opening ceremonies
• 1 p.m.: Shake, Rattle, Rogue performs at Clan Village
• 1:45 p.m.: Scottish country line dancers at Clan Village
• 2 p.m.: Pipe band competitions at the main field and demo field
• 2:30 p.m.: Shake, Rattle, Rogue performs at Clan Village
• 3:15 p.m. Scottish country line dancers at Clan Village
• 3:45 p.m.: Shake, Rattle, Rogue performs at Clan Village
• 4:30 p.m.: Drum major's competition at the main field
• 5:15 p.m.: Closing ceremonies at the main field

Dunedin's Scottish Origins

Named by two Scotsmen, J.O. Douglas and James Sumerville, Dunedin was originally settled by Scottish immigrants in 1899. The name "Dunedin" is Gaelic for Edinburgh, Douglas and Sumerville's hometown in Scotland.

In 1957, the Dunedin Highland Junior High (now Dunedin Highland Middle School) was built in honor of Dunedin’s founders. Attending the opening ceremonies as a reporter, Bob Longstreet (who later became mayor of Dunedin) decided to present the newspaper's owner, Scottish Laird Roy Thompson, with a set of bagpipes, kicking off the city's love affair with piping.

Under the instruction of expert piper Matt Forsythe, a recent transplant from Scotland to Dunedin, that love affair led to the formation of the City of Dunedin Pipe Band, the Dunedin High School Scottish Highlander Band and the Dunedin Highland Middle School Band.

Dunedin residents became more enamored with their Scottish heritage in 1964 when the city of Dunedin invited the city of Stirling, Scotland, to become a sister city.

In 1967, the Dunedin Highland Games and Festival Committee, now the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, launched the Dunedin Highland Games to raise money for uniforms, instruments, travel expenses and scholarships for the Dunedin pipe bands.

What You Should Know

• Highlander Park is located at 1920 Pinehurst Road.
• Tickets are $20 at the gate with children 12 and under admitted for free with an adult.
• Parking at the parking is very limited. Organizers recommend parking at Dunedin High School on Pinehurst Road, North Dunedin Baptist Church on Michigan Avenue and County Road 1 and Garrison Jones Elementary School on the other side of County Road 1. There will be shuttle service starting at 7 a.m. at Dunedin High School and starting at 8 a.m. at the church and Garrison Jones lots. Complimentary shuttle service will run continuously throughout the Games, bringing those attending to the East Gate next to the Dunedin Community Center.
• Handicapped-only parking will be available in the lot at the Dunedin Community Center, 1920 Pinehurst Road.
• Local Tiki Rides will be running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Text or call 727-992-4174 for a ride.
• Those using Lyft or Uber should be dropped off on Michigan Avenue at the West Gate access, just west of the Dunedin Fine Art Center.
• Only service animals are permitted.
• Chairs are permitted but cooler and tents are prohibited.