Highland Games

Arriving in Scotland we saw Highland Games advertised in almost every town that we visited. The problem for us was the events were either the week before or in 4 days time; never at a time convenient for us. Our luck changed on the Scottish Borders town of Peebles; all the stars aligned. 

Highland Games are when local communities get together and celebrate Scottish culture. All Highland games include: a pipe band competition, highland dancing, and traditional heavy events including caber tossing, hammer throwing, and the crowd favourite of haggis hurling. 

Pipe bands and dancing are open to all ages and cover a range of abilities

Shot putt is the same as the Olympic event but competitors are free to use whatever technique works for them. Some use a standing throw, others use a run up or spinning preparation.  

Hammer throwing, unlike its Olympic equivalent the hammer has a wooden handle and the athlete does not spin in a circle before throwing it.

The athlete uses specially designed shoes that dig into the ground to anchor themselves before spinning the hammer around their body and launching it 60 to 80 metres.  

Throwing the Peebles stone, same technique as shot put but with a 28kg stone.

Throwing a weight over a bar. Think pole vaulting but you stand under the bar and try to throw a 14kg weight over the cross bar. It is also important not to be hit by the weight.

Caber tossing, this is the crowd favourite. The athletes toss a 60kg telephone pole sized beam end on end. The aim is to have the straightest throw.

Haggis hurling is a crowd participation event. You stand on half a wine barrel and toss a 2kg frozen haggis as far as you can, using any technique you like. The record is just over 66 metres.

In all it was an interesting and very enjoyable day, if you ever get the chance then attending a Highland Games is a great thing to do.