Don those kilts and prep those bagpipes — it’s time for the annual Scottish Highland Games.
The 76th annual event, organized by the Seattle Scottish Highland Games Association and being hosted at the Enumclaw Expo Center, will be ready to say “fàilte” to visitors on July 21 with free evening fun before the main event continues on July 22 and 23.
Tickets for the 22nd and 23rd, which can be bought at sshga.org, range from $25 one day general admission to $40 two day general admission, with discounts for children and seniors. Children under 5 can come for free. Note that parking costs $15.
There’s more performances and competitions than we can list here, so make sure to head to sshga.org/daily-event-schedule for a complete schedule.
FREE FRIDAY FUN
The public is invited to celebrate the start of the Scottish Games on Friday, June 21, at no cost.
The Expo Center’s doors will open at 5 p.m. with food booths, pubs, and some vendors already open for business.
Various pipe performances and competitions will be held on the grounds until 7 p.m., when the Rising of the Clans and Flaming Saltire is held at the Main Grandstand stage. According to the Seattle Scottish Highland Games Association, this is “one of the most emotionally compelling and magical moment of the weekend” as the Chieftain of the Games lights a torch and passes the flame to the gathered clans, ‘filling the glen with beacons of light.”
A 21+ event featuring Elias Alexander and his RAMBLXR Show begins at the Rampant Lion Pub at 8:30 p.m., but an all-ages Cèilidh (party) starts at the Tilted Kilt Pub (inside the Celtics Arts Showcase) at 9 p.m., rounding out the night.
SATURDAY CELEBRATIONS
Saturday is when the Scottish Games really begin, with athletes from around the world flying to Washington to compete in the hammer throw, stone put, and the ever-famous caber toss.
(For those who are new to the Games, the caber toss is when athletes toss a large wooden pole — the caber, which can be as long at 20 feet and weigh 150 pounds — into the air in front of them. The goal is the get the pole to flip, the top end hitting the ground, and then have it fall away from, but pointing toward, the tosser.)
Doors to the Games open at 7:45 a.m., and athletes start competing right at 8 a.m.
Musicians, duelists, dog trainers and more take their places at the various stages around the Expo Center begin around 10 a.m. They pause for the opening ceremony, which starts at 12:30 p.m., and resume around 1:30 p.m.
The massing of the pipes and drums, and an award ceremony, starts at 5:30 p.m., marking the end of most events, but entertainment at the Rampant Lion Pub continues until 11 p.m.
SUNDAY FESTIVITIES
Sunday is much of the same — doors open at 7:45 a.m. and games begin at 8.
New on this day is a worship service at 9 a.m., followed by various performances around the grounds.
The opening ceremony is at 12:30 p.m., and closing ceremonies at 5 p.m.
