Hawaiian Scottish Fest & Highland Games set for this weekend on Oahu’s south shore

The Hawaiian Scottish Association will hold its 32nd annual Hawaiian Scottish Festival & Highland Games this weekend on Oahu.

Two days of festivities will get under way at 9 a.m. Sat., April 6 in Kapiolani Park area, edging Waikiki. The highland games will feature Celtic music, a highland dance competition and various age-old highland games events, ranging from “Throwing the Hammer” and “Tossing the Caber” to ”Putting the Stone.”

The games had their beginnings when kings and chiefs of Scotland used them to screen candidates for men-at-arms service for strength, stamina, accuracy and agility. For more information about the games’ athletic events, click here. There will also be demonstrations of swordplay, weaving, and fencing.

The fest’s Celtic music lineup includes Celtic Pipes & Drums of Hawaii; the Royal Hawaiian Band; other local musicians, such as fiddler Lisa Gomes; and a “Celtic Fusion” band (Scottish and Irish instruments) from Delaware called Mythica.

Among the displays: Scottish genealogy charts, and a historical account of Scottish immigration to Hawaii, which got under way with the arrival of Capt. James Cook and other explorers in the late 1770s.

The fest will also feature vendors selling Celtic clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, housewares, and Scottish fare (even haggis).

For more information about the annual Hawaiian Scottish Festival & Highland Games, click here.