There are actually quite a number of Highland Games which take place throughout the year in Scotland, especially in the Scottish Highlands, but by far the biggest and possibly the oldest is the Inverness Highland Games.
The event takes place each July although the exact date varies and dates from around 1821 when the towns people raised funds to revive a games to celebrate and reintroduce many aspects of Scottish culture to the area.
The Highland Games have often been seen as essentially a group of macho local guys wandering around in kilts and taking part in various heavy events, such as caber tossing (aka tossing the caber) in which each contestant picks up and throws a large pole or log as far as possible.
The modern games feature much more than this with various aspects of Scottish culture and heritage on display, including regular visits from non-native Scots in Canada and the eastern USA. One of the most famous of the events is likely to be the Scottish country dancing and Scottish Highland dancing (dancing around crossed swords).
The 2011 Inverness Highland Games are due to take place on Saturday 23 July 2011 as part of the Inverness Summer Festival.
Other information:
Things to do in Inverness
Hotels in Inverness
Holiday cottages around Inverness
