Edinboro University To Celebrate 20th Annual Highland Games And Scottish Festival

Let the Games begin!

The 20th Annual Edinboro Highland Games and Scottish Festival returns to the Edinboro University campus bigger and better than ever from Sept. 6-8, with the main events planned for Saturday, Sept. 7.  This year’s iteration of the popular festival will once again feature the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championships. Admission to most festival events is free.

The Highland Games bring Scottish and Celtic music, professional and amateur heavy athletic competitions, Highland dance competitions, pipe band parades, fiddlers and harpists, Scottish and American foods, clan gatherings, gift and clothing vendors and various animal exhibits to Edinboro’s campus annually for a community-wide celebration of Scottish heritage and culture.

The Festival began and continues to serve as a tribute to the University’s founders and its ongoing association with the history and traditions of Scotland.

The Games begin Sept. 6 with an evening of music presented at Goodell Gardens, featuring performances from Lake & Highlands Harp Society, Port Righ Harpists, and Lydia Byard on Scottish fiddle.

The principle events of the festival and games will be held Sept. 7 on the lawns adjacent to McComb Fieldhouse, at the corner of Scot and Scotland Roads, and the Gazebo, on the banks of Mallory Lake. Bagpipe music will overtake Edinboro’s campus throughout the day as a record number of bands, drummers and pipers march together and compete. Highland dancers will also compete inside McComb Fieldhouse, while athletes toss various weighty objects on the arena’s rear lawns. Those events include the caber toss (flip a tree), as well as hammer, stone and 56-pound weight throws for height and distance.

An array of vendors will be on-hand selling clothing, jewelry, glassware, and other goods. Scottish and American food vendors will also be available with sausage rolls, meat pies, shepherd’s pie, chicken dinners, desserts and more.

The Games run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A closing ceremony is planned for 4:30 p.m. on the lawns, followed by the ceilidh (kay-lee) dinner and music from 6 to 11 p.m. in the Frank G. Pogue Student Center.

The ceilidh is the only ticketed event of the festival at $30. In addition to a delicious buffet dinner, the Saturday evening celebration will include music by the Chelsea House Orchestra, Al Petteway & Amy White, and Lydia & Kerry Byard. Advance ticket purchase is recommended. An order form is available on the festival’s website.

The festival wraps up on Sunday with performances by Chelsea House Orchestra at Edinboro United Methodist Church at 10:45 a.m. and the Riverside Inn at 2 p.m.

All events go on, rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, alternate locations have been established for all activities. Festival information, including a full schedule of events, dates and times, is available online at http://www.edinboro.edu/events/highlandgames/.