The Scottish are coming back to Pleasanton this weekend as The Caledonian Club of San Francisco will host the annual Scottish Highland Games at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, making this the 142nd consecutive gathering held by the Caledonian Club.
“I remember the first one well,” Caledonian Club spokesperson Floyd Busby jokingly said. “We’ve never missed a year; during WWI and WWII, even after the 1906 San Francisco earthquakes, we’ve held the games.”
The games kick off today with the regular “March Under the Arch” through downtown Pleasanton at 6 p.m. The parade is a mini version of the games, meant to show everyone that the Scottish are in town and give them a taste of what the weekend holds. The Toronto Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums band will be featured along with Highland dancers, all marching down Main Street. Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and County Supervisor Scott Haggerty will also attend.
Highland Games are a Scottish tradition dating back to before recorded history and modern-day Scots keep the games alive as a way of celebrating their heritage. The games include strong-man athletic, bagpipe and Highland dancing competitions, as well as booths for Scottish clans to display their families’ heritage and for people to search their own family’s genealogy. Although the event started as an exclusive activity for Scottish living in America, nowadays the event is meant to celebrate Scottish heritage, while also providing the community with family entertainment.
“The original reason was to have a festival of Scottish culture, and that’s still the reason, but it has grown beyond to providing entertainment for people who are not Scottish,” Busby said.
The Caledonian Club of San Francisco held its first Scottish Gathering and Games in 1866, the year after the American Civil War ended. Since then, the event has grown to be the largest Highland Games in North America. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people attend each year. In fact, around the world the Pleasanton gathering is known as “The Big One.”
Part of what makes the Pleasanton games so popular is that it’s also the U.S. Highland Games Championship competition, meaning those competing in the athletic events must have qualified in smaller competitions to compete. This is the 33rd year the games have held the heavy weight invitational event. Heavy weight events, such as the caber toss, stone put, Scottish hammer throw and weight over the bar, dominate the athletic competition and hark back to the traditional Scottish heritage. There are eight heavy weight events, which all competitors must compete in.
“Tossing the caber, that’s probably the most popular and best known of the athletic events,” Busby said. “But each competitor in Scottish heavy weights, unlike track and field, has to do all eight events, so while they may be better in one than the other, they have to compete in all eight, so it’s quite grueling for the competitors. There’s just so much going on.”
In addition to the athletic competition, the Highland Games also include competitions in piping, drumming and Highland dancing. Even sheep dogs get in on the competition, running through timed courses in the “sheep dog trials,” which happens to be one of the most popular events. The piping and dancing competitions are just as competitive as the sporting events with bands coming from across the country to compete.
Beyond bagpipes, the event will also include modern Celtic music performed live on stage. Three new bands will join the festival this year: Brother, a Celtic rock band from Australia; The Blair Band, a Beatles-inspired Celtic band; and Albannach, which Busby described “Braveheart on steroids.”
Each day of the event closes with music, as well, with the U.S. Marines Band and the Toronto Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums Band collaborating for the closing ceremonies.
“It’s two cultures intermingling and performing,” Busby said.
To attend the Scottish Gathering and Games, cost is $15 for adults and $10 for youths ages 8 to 16, seniors 65 or older and handicapped for a one-day advanced sale ticket. Adult two-day advanced sale tickets are $22. Children ages 8 or younger are free both days. Tickets purchased the day of the event are $17 one-day and $25 two-day for adults and $12 for youths, seniors and handicapped. Visit www.caledonian.org for an advanced ticket order form.
