Grandfather Mountain Highland Games

[monsoon]

One of the biggest summer events in Western North Carolina are the Highland Games that take place at Macrae Meadows near Grandfather Mountain. Since I belong to to one of the clans, I usually attend the event every year. This year's event was the 50th anniversary of the games so it was well attended. I have heard there were 30,000 people there when I took these photos. I thought that I would share a few of them here.

This is the walk from where the Linville bus service and the Boone Appalcart drops off people outside the park. If you don't camp on the mountain, cars are not allow up on the mountain during the event. You have to park in Linville or Boone and ride a bus up.

This is through the campground that surrounds the area.

Main Gate

Inside the Meadow. That is Grandfather Mountain in the background.

The main grounds contain athletic fields surrounded by the reviewing and judgement stands, and the tents of each clan. I believe over 200 Scottish clans were there.

Judgement Stand

This is another view of Grandfather Mountain. You can see the visitor center in this photo This is one of the highest points in eastern North America to give you an idea of the elevation of the Meadow. While it was 96 degrees in Charlotte that day, the high at the park was a nice 75. The elevation makes a big difference.

Opps.. The guy to the left dares to wear a Union Jack. I hope he got away before they caught him. LOL

There are plenty of events out in the woods surrounding the athletic field including many performers in the Celtic Groves.

This is one of the bands. I forget the name.

This is the band Off Kilter. They are very popular. There were several thousand people watching this performance.

Probably the most popular band there is Clanna an Drumma. Their performance are very well attended which makes it hard to take photos. But here are a few anyway. Their music is very tribal and reflects the battle drums of old Celtic Wars.

Dancers

If you get hungry there is endless amounts of Scottish food to be had and plain ordinary America food for the less adventuresome.

Got Haggis?

Of course there are bagpipes. Singles, doubles and entire marching bands. Bagpipes everywhere. Single bagpipes usually grate on my nerves in about 5 minutes, but when combined together with drums they sound pretty good. Here are a few of the marching bands.

From NC State

And from Charleston

The Scottish did their part in defending the brand new USA against the British dogs during the Revolutionary War. The event includes a re-creation of a Scottish military encampment that would have been in the Carolinas during the war. Here are a couple of photos.

Hope you enjoyed this visit to the West.

[Spartan]

The Highland Games! I haven't been to those in years... or maybe ever- I am not sure which

Looks like an interesting time. I wouldn't mind seeing the log/tree hurling (whatever they call that).

Linville Caverns is a neat place to go too.

Thanks for sharing

[Dukeis#1]

Ahhh...The Highland Games. I think its more infamous for the traffic rather than the actual event.

I haven't actually been to the games in some time, though when I was in High School I helped man the parking lots in the Linville area as an extra-curricular activity.

I really should go back to Grandfather Mountain sometime. (Particularly since it is right in my back yard!)