Scottish Highland Gathering and Games: Cabers, Kilts and Clans

The Caledonian Club of San Francisco hosted the 148th Scottish Highland Gathering and Games, one of the largest annual Celtic festivals in the United States.  Taking the Alameda County Fairgrounds by storm over the holiday weekend, the event featured two days of ethnic food, unique athletic demonstrations, dynamic entertainment and colorful displays for families to enjoy. 


Scottish culture addicts, along with Hibernophiles and Anglophiles, sporting tartan kilts of all hues, delighted as they watched sheepdogs race against the clock, while enjoying boisterous bag pipe band competitions after meeting with their kinsman at the gathering of the clans. 

Festival-goers, along with groups bedecked in elaborate costumes of eras long past, all mingled, shopped and sang at the family-friendly festival. The occasional lyrical brogue could be heard throughout the crowd, rising above the clanging of weaponry during medieval sword exhibitions.

Authentic Celtic food fare offerings, ranging from bangers to corned beef and cabbage, filled the plates of fairgoers seeking to savor the quintessential United Kingdom experience. Protestant and Catholic whiskeys alike were swirled and sniffed by amateur connoisseurs at the whiskey seminars offered Saturday and Sunday.

Top professional athletes from around the world clashed as they demonstrated feats of strength and skill during the annual "caber toss," as well as a litany of other competitions.

Did you attend the festival? Would you go again? What was your favorite discovery while there? Tell us in the comments section below.