In it’s 42nd year, the Savannah Scottish Games is back and promises a grand celebration of Scottish heritage complete with music, dancing, athletic games, children’s activities, food and fun for the entire family. With appoximately 3,000 people participating in this special event each year, Savannah’s Scottish Games is one of the largest and fourth oldest Games in the Southeast.

On Saturday, May 5, 2018, the Games will kick off on the historic grounds of Bethesda Academy, located at 9520 Ferguson Ave., and offer an exciting day of some annual favorites including the highly anticipated Heavy Athletics Competition. Kilt-donning athletes will battle it out in a variety of traditional events including the Caber Toss, Sheaf Toss, Scottish Hammer Throw, Open Stone Put and much more! The most spectacular event is the Caber Toss – ‘ye casting of the bar’. For centuries, these feats of strength, balance and agility were used to select the finest Clan warriers.

Heavy Athletics Background:

Scottish heavy athletics owes its roots to the Highland warriors who would keep in shape between battles by competing among themselves using everyday implements. When the English forbid any Scotsman to bear arms - a stone, a blacksmith’s hammer, a tree trunk (caber) - all became tools for building strength for battle.

The 2018 USIR Highland Dancing Southern Regional Championships, one of six competitions held throughout the U.S. each spring, will also take place on May 5 at the Savannah Scottish Games. Five age groups will compete in four dances, with the top three winners in each group at Savannah eligible to compete in the 2018 USIR National Championship.

Finally, no Games event is complete without the cadence of piping and drums. Listen to the sounds of Scotland at the Savannah Scottish Games where the following bands will perform throughout the day:

Mercer University Pipes & Drums

Coastal FLorida Police & Fire Pipes & Drums

Savannah Pipes & Drums

Charleston Police Pipes & Drums

Additional Games highlights include:

Scottish marketplace with traditional artisan goods and refreshments

Armored sword fighting (the kiddos will love this!)

Scottish border collie herding demonstrations

Children’s activities including pint-sized tug-of-war, sheaf toss, caber toss, haggis hurl, stone throw, welly toss, sack race and kilted run

Clan booths & exhibits

Genealogy tent on clan row with information on Highland Scots, Lowland Scots, Ulster Scots (Scots-Irish), Irish, English, Manx, Welsh, and Orkney