The clans will gather once again for the Ligonier Highland Games.
Returning after a pandemic-year break, the celebration of Scottish heritage is planned Saturday at Idlewild & SoakZone, off Route 30 in Ligonier Township. Gates open at 8 a.m., with the last event beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Usually spanning a weekend, the 62nd version of the event has been condensed into one day. It still will offer all the favorite features that visitors have come to expect: kilt-wearing caber tossers and hammer throwers, highland dancers, pipers and fiddlers, singers and storytellers, and vendors of Celtic items, Scottish shortbread and other foods.
“The games have everything Scotland has to offer, except the architecture. There are no castles,” said Kelly Shaffer, publicist for the event. “Once you park your car, you’re in a whole different world, with everyone walking around in kilts, the Scottish dogs, the pipes playing.”
Welcoming ceremonies will commence at noon on the main field, featuring the massed bands and parade of tartans.
The Scottish clans will be escorted by the 1758 Scottish regiment from Fort Ligonier. The bagpipe bands will follow, marching onto the field in formation to play several traditional tunes.
Entertainment, feats of strength
Featured events include heavy athletics, beginning at 9 a.m. on the main field; highland dancing competition, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Pavilion D2; and the Gaelic Mod, an adjudicated Gaelic language, poetry and singing demonstration and competition, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pavilion C8.
The massed bands also will perform again at 5 p.m. on the main field.
Also planned are:
• Piping, drumming and pipe band exhibitions
• Scottish harp and fiddling workshops and competitions
• Celtic musical entertainment
• Scottish country dancing demonstrations
• Children’s games and Scottish storytelling
• Spinning, weaving, sheep-shearing and living history demonstrations
• Vendors of food, jewelry, tartans and other Celtic items
• Clan and genealogy information tents
Entertainers include Barra the Bard, a Scottish storyteller appearing at the games for the 30th time. Also on tap are Celtic rockers The Low Kings, singer/songwriter/storyteller Cahal Dunne and other singers, musicians and dancers on three stages.
Hurl some haggis
Attendees also will be able to get into the spirit of the games — and win prizes — by entering the keg toss, with age classes for men and women, and a haggis-hurling competition for women.
Legend says women would stand on one side of the River Dromach and hurl haggis lunches to their husbands on the other side. Now, there’s a World Haggis Hurling Association with competitions around the world, Shaffer said.
Clans planning to attend include Buchanan, Campbell, Cameron, Donald, Fergusson, Gregor, Hamilton, Hanna, Hay, Kennedy, Irwin, Lockhart, MacAlister, MacBean, MacDougall, MacDuff, MacFarlane, MacGillivray, Mackintosh, Moncreiffe, Murray, Stewart and Young.
A major factor in moving to a single-day event was the shortage of available judges for the piping and drumming, dancing and athletic competitions, said Executive Director Rick Wonderly, when this year’s event was announced in April.
Because of international travel restrictions in place when organizers were seeking judges, only American judges were available, Wonderly said. The pool of available judges was further limited because many other highland games that were canceled last year also were moved to September.
“There still is a full slate of events,” Shaffer said. “One of the benefits of the games is that it’s an outdoor venue, and it’s huge. There will be entertainment stationed all across the park.
“Usually, being outdoors is an anxiety point, because you’re weather-dependent,” she said. “But this year, being outdoors is actually a bonus, because a lot of people are still more comfortable outside.”
Events cancel only in the event of thunder and lightning, she added.
Admission is $20, $18 for 55 and older, $5 for ages 11-17 and free to younger children.
Details: ligonierhighlandgames.org
