Highland Games
On a road trip through Scotland in August of 2002 we discovered that we were right in the middle of the highland games season.
Where other places have an agricultural and pastoral show or a fete, the highlanders have their games.
We drove down through the centre of the higlands to Strathdon for the Lonach Games.We saw the men tossing the caber, young men and women dancing in full highland gear, and various races, with and without obstacles.
These are the highland games frequented by Billy Connelly, and this time, Robin Williams.
Roger ran in the mountain race they included, with whatever gear we could find, and my sister-in-law and I volunteered for the tug-of-war "foreigners" team, but didn't make the grade!
The event was a fun and pleasant way to spend the afternoon, with lots to watch: tartan-clan guessing, and stalls to buy food, antiques, and country paraphernalia.
I'd go again just to enjoy the atmosphere and the fun, it's good to see a tradition that doesn't seem to have become a tourist venture, and has retained the atmosphere of a country community get-together.
It seems that many of the highland games are sponsored by Glenfiddich whisky, and they sponsor a poster which includes the locations and dates of the games, which are run from June through to September. I guess there might be information on their website: www.glenfiddich.com.
If you have ideas about good places to go please email me.