The modern Highland Gathering or Highland Games is a day full of events and activities. It is a mix of Scottish sporting and heavy events (eg caber tossing), Scottish music including pipe bands and massed pipes and drums displays, highland dancing, food and produce stalls, community stalls, Scottish Clan tents and perhaps above all, enormous community spirit built off a base of Scottish culture.  Highland Gatherings are a fete, a fair, a market and music festival combine into one. 

Highland Gatherings are not a new idea. The concept is said to date back over a thousand years.  There is a reference in a 1703 document that summons the members of the Clan Grant to a highland gathering.  In the Victorian era the modern concept of the highland gathering was born and became popular after the highland clearances.

The Canberra Highland Gathering is an Australian take on this traditional Scottish event. Around a dozen pipe bands will descend on Canberra for individual band performances as well as participation in the stirring opening and closing massed pipes and drums displays.  Highland dancers from all around Australia will compete in the Canberra City Championships.  There will be spectacular displays of Scottish heavy sporting events - including the Caber Toss and Lifting of the Stones - by the Tartan Warriors.  The National Military Re-Enactment Group and the Rural Fire Brigade will conduct displays throughout the day and will be available to answers questions from potentially interested members. The Canberra College of Piping & Drumming will also host an information tent for those who want to try blowing a set of pipes or hit snare drum and who are seeking details on the College’s learner program.  For those interested in understanding their Scottish ancestry and identifying their Clan tartan, around 15 Clan tents will be present to answer all those genealogy questions.  And in between watching the pipe bands, dancers and other displays you can browse your way through the wide array of market and Scottish goods stalls as well as grab a bite to eat from the extensive range of food stalls (including traditional Scottish food such as Haggis!). 

Once the daytime events are complete, the celebration of Scottish culture extends into the evening with a traditional Scottish Ceilidh night at the Canberra Burns Club (directly opposite the oval where the Gathering is being held).  Entertainment throughout the evening by a local celtic folk group mixed up with some more piping and highland dancing. And for those so inclined, a wee bit more haggis accompanied by a nip of Scottish whiskey from the Club’s very wide selection.  

The final bit of good news about the Canberra Highland Gathering is that entry to both the Gathering and the Ceilidh is FREE.  We look forward to seeing you there!