Q: What do the HighLand games entail?
Highland games are events that have been happening in Scotland in the spring, summer, and fall as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic cultures for years. There are more than 200 games and gatherings across the USA and Canada. We also have the Grandfather Mountain Highland games in NC. The wearing of your tartan (plaid) in a kilt is a way of people knowing which family you belong to. The games are noted for their unique athletic events and cultural history.
A day at the Crystal Coast Highland games will consist of seeing Scottish dancing, bagpiping, and learning some heritage and genealogy. There will also be athletics, which include stone put, weight for distance and weight for height, sheaf toss, hammer throw sometimes, and the crowd favorite caber toss, which some refer to as the telephone pole. There will be a feat of strength with a stone carry and also some MAS wrestling. The athletes that will be attending this year are a former 2019 World Champion Spencer Tyler along with three other professional athletes named Nate Burchette, Nick MacPhee, Wes Kiser. We will also have an amateur division with 6 athletes. There will be a kids area, Scottish venders, heritage tents, food trucks, two performers, and Beer tents with local breweries. The bagpipe band that will be performing is Siren City Pipe band.
It's a great day for families to come out and enjoy some fun on the water with bag pipes playing and big men in kilts throwing things !!!
Q: What about the HighLand games and the culture surrounding them intrigued you?
My husband has grown up his whole life being told you are Scottish. He attended the Highland game at Grandfather Mountain every summer, and just loved it. He even competed for a number of years himself as an athlete. Now our son competes, and our daughter was a dancer for many years as well. I was introduced to this early on while we were dating and loved the pride the Scottish people have for where they come from. We have been to Scotland many times and you feel it when visiting their country. I've been proud to be a Crawford for many years since.
Q: How can people participate in the HighLand games?
To compete in athletics you need a history of shot put, hammer thrower, or weight lifting. Our event is invite-only, but with that being said, if people are interested in learning the events and have some history we are glad to connect you with the right people to help you learn. As for the dancing, you would need to take Scottish dance lessons, as well as bagpipe lessons.
About Holly
My name is Holly Crawford. I am married to Dr. Bill Crawford, and we have 19 year old twins, Abby and Billy, who both attend the University of Mount Olive. I organize the Crystal Coast Highland Games, and I’m also a domestic engineer. We organized and ran the athletics for the New Hampshire Highland games for 18 years. We moved to MHC back in 2018 and absolutely fell in love with the area. My husband grew up in NC but had not lived here for over 30 years. We had returned from NH after a games weekend in 2019 and thought this are would be a beautiful place for a Highland games, so then it began...me at the computer and learning every aspect of how to do Highland games. It's been fun, stressful, and a great learning experience.
This event will be happening on October 23, 2021 from 9-4 at Gallants Channel in Beaufort NC. You can purchase tickets online at www.crystalcoasthighlandgames.com for $12 or $20 at the gate.