By GAGE WILSON
For Glasgow News 1
The sounds of bagpipes and traditional Scottish athletics will once again echo through Park City this weekend as the Southern Kentucky Highland Games returns for its second annual event.
The festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 at Bell’s Tavern Park in Park City and will feature a full day of Highland games competition, live entertainment, food vendors and family activities celebrating Scottish heritage and culture.
Vice president of the event, Karin Baldwin-Carroll, described the Games as a celebration of “the history, heritage and traditions of Scotland and its people.”
Festivities are slated to begin at 7:45 a.m. with breakfast at the Lions Club Building before the official opening ceremony at 9 a.m., which will honor the Clan Bell Society, the featured clan for this year’s gathering. The ceremony will also include a prayer from Rev. Steve Rudy and music from piper Karen Brumley.
“This year we are going to have 50 athletes, which was the most our athletic director would do,” Carroll explained. “So we’re climbing the Highland ranks.”
Throughout the day, visitors will be able to watch traditional Highland athletic events including the caber toss, hammer throw and tug-of-war competitions. Children’s activities and a children’s tug-of-war challenge are also planned.
Live entertainment will run from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the festival’s entertainment pavilion, featuring performances from Jacobites By Name, Kris Colt and Doon the Brae, alongside appearances from humorist Jeff Fleming, also known as Duncan MacLeod.
Carroll went on to say the event will also feature Scottish-themed vendors, craft booths and food options throughout the park. Participating clans this year include Clan Buchanan, Clan Campbell, Clan Grant, Clan Hay, Clan Lennox, Clan MacLeod and several others.
Carroll pointed out that the Games carry a personal interest for her and her husband Gary Carroll, as after taking an ancestry test they discovered both of their families had hailed from Scotland.
“When we moved here in 2006 we did not know that we had Scottish ancestry,” she said. “It ended up being that we were both from the Fife district.”
Last year’s Games saw six clans represented, which has grown to 14 for this year’s gathering, according to Carroll.
The event is free to the public, with Carroll recommending attendees arrive early as last year’s Games drew thousands from across the region.
“We had about 4,000 people last year,” she said. “And with each year we’re going to get a wee bit bigger and better.”
The Southern Kentucky Highland Games operates as a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and preserving Scottish culture and traditions in the region. For this year’s Games, Carroll will be selling shirts and ornaments featuring the Games’ updated logo, with proceeds helping ensure the event continues to grow while paying proper respect to Scottish culture.
Key facts:
– Second annual Southern Kentucky Highland Games set for Saturday, May 30 at Bell’s Tavern Park in Park City
– Festivities start at 7:45 a.m. with breakfast and a 9 a.m. opening ceremony honoring Clan Bell Society
– Event features 50 Highland athletes, traditional games and a children’s tug-of-war
– Live entertainment runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with multiple Scottish and Celtic performers
– Fourteen clans are participating this year, up from six at last year’s Games
– Admission is free, and organizers say last year drew about 4,000 people
– Event is organized by a nonprofit focused on preserving Scottish culture and heritage in southern Kentucky
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