Dozens of athletes were at the 2023 Scotland County Highland Games. This year the games are breaking records already with the amount of signups from clans and bands who will be traveling into town for the weekend event which will kick off Oct. 4 and run through Oct. 6.
File photo | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG — The grounds of the John Blue House will soon be filled with the sounds of pipe bands as organizers prepare for the annual Scotland County Highland Games.
This year the games are breaking records already with the amount of signups from clans and bands who will be traveling into town for the weekend event which will kick off Oct. 4 and run through Oct. 6.
“We have 23 pipe bands signed up,” said chairman of the Games Bill Caudill. “Which makes us the largest pipe band competition in the south. I am delighted at the turnout. I think it’s indicative of the fact that we’ve been doing some things right for a number of years and people know we run a good event and want to participate. It’s good for our team that we’ve got this kind of reputation.”
Caudill added the clans and societies have been maxed out as well with 60 being represented. Along with the clans and pipe bands, there are 80 to 90 Highland Dancers; around 125 solo pipers and drummers; and around 48 men and women signed up to compete in the athletic events.
“We have a handful of competitors coming from Texas, we’ve got people coming from Maine, and all points in between,” Caudill said. “We’ve had people coming from far before but those numbers are up this year. We are truly filling up Laurinburg with people from out of town.”
This year’s welcoming ceremonies will begin at noon this year while the grounds open to the public at 8 a.m.
Events such as athletics begin around 8:30 a.m.with the stages opening at 10 a.m. The closing ceremonies will be at 5 p.m.
A weekend full of events
While the Games is on Saturday, the weekend will kick off on Friday with a lecture by Dr. Bruce Durie. Durie will be speaking at the Hagan Choral Room in the Vardell Building at St. Andrews University at 1 p.m.
“He’s an internationally renowned genealogist and DNA researcher,” Caudill said. “The title of his lecture is “Who are the Scots, Really?” it’s going to be a discussion about all the DNA research that’s going on in terms of genealogy in terms of who the Scots are.” The event is $10 and tickets can be purchased online or at the door.
Following the lecture is the annual Whisky Tasting at the Storytelling Arts Center, which is already sold out for the evening.
Ending Friday night is the second annual Highland Fling in downtown Laurinburg. The event will begin around 5:30 p.m. in McDuffie Square and feature food trucks and a beverage tent.
“This event is free and open to the public, anyone in the community can come and get a taste of what’s to come on Saturday,” Caudill said. “Some of our Saturday entertainers will be there including last year’s favorite Seven Nations. We’ve got a new act this year, the Sean Heely Celtic Band, they’re very high-energy dance music. We also have Colin
Grant-Adams who’s from our sister city of Oban performing. Lastly, we’re showcasing our furthest-traveling pipe band. It’s the City of Mount Dora Pipe Band and they’re going to come out and do a performance for us.”
On Saturday following the games at 7:30 p.m. is “An Evening of Scots Gaelic” at Avinger Auditorium at St. Andrews University.
“This concert will feature song, instrumental music, dance, and spoken word in Gaelic with English translations,” Caudill said. “The reason we did that was because Gaelic is historically important in this area. People spoke Gaelic here in Laurinburg, they spoke it in Scotland County, in this whole region. Our three oldest churches in the county started as bilingual congregations with ministers who spoke both English and Gaelic. This is a way to expose people to that tradition which is beautiful.”
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or at the door.
On Sunday, there will be a “Kirkin’ of the Tartans” worship service at the Historic Old Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church at 10:30 a.m. to finish off the weekend.
Tickets to any of the events or Saturday’s Games can be purchased at carolina-highlandgames.com. You can find a complete schedule of events on the website as well.
Caudill added he hopes to see more local residents at this year’s event as many come from out of town for the games.
“The majority of our attendance comes from out of town and we’d like to encourage the local community to come to see why so many people come from long distances to Laurinburg,” Caudill said. “This is the county’s largest tourism event and we’ve got a significant economic impact on the community during that time. But we’d like to give a special invitation to the locals to come see what it’s about if they haven’t been before.”