The Kalamazoo Scottish
Festival Association
Highland Athletics
The Highland Games are the highlight event of our annual festival. Consisting of a series of track and field events where both men and women compete in feats of strength. Events include the hammer throw, caber toss, sheaf toss, and much more. The Kalamazoo Scottish Festival and Games is proud to have several world class highland athletes who attend annually, as well as the honor of having several world records set and broken in past years at our games. If you are interested in competing in highland athletics or being a judge please reach out to us at: info@kalamazooscotfest.org or fill out the form below:
Open Athletics Practices:
The KSFA is happy to announce coninual practices leading up to this years festival. Wether you are Pro Highland Athlete or just starting out you are welcome to join Josh Slotnick every Sunday from 10AM-Noon at Kindleberger Park for an open throwing practice. Class is free and any updates or cancellations will be posted to our facebook.
The History of the Highland Games
In Scotland, Heavy Athletics Events have been held for at least 1,000 years. Historians believe that some of the Heavy Events originated during Druid times. Heavy Events began as tests of strength and conditioning for Scottish troops. A tree trunk would be made into a caber and tossed by the strong military men. Rocks from river beds would be heaved for distance. Lead weights would be tossed underhand over a bar more than twice as high as the athlete. The Athlete who accumulated the most points from the contest would be the Heavy Events Champion.
The first historical references to the Heavy Events were during the reign of King Malcolm III (1057-1093). The Ceres Games of Fife, Scotland, are considered the oldest, almost continuous Highland Games, beginning in 1314. The English Government, during the Act of Proscription years (1746-82), however, outlawed all Highland Games, including the Ceres Games. The Act banned all Scottish culture, including the wearing of kilts and the playing of bagpipes. The Ceres Games also were not held during World War I and World War II. Even with these interruptions, the Ceres Games have been held annually for about 700 years.
Over the centuries, the Heavy Events have evolved from military exercises into festivals for the Scottish public. With the addition of dancing, music, food and drink, the Highland Games were born.