Bagpipes echo across the slopes, athletes test their strength tossing massive cabers, dancers perform centuries-old Highland traditions, and families gather beneath a sea of colorful tartans as the New Hampshire Highland Games & Festival returns to Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln.
The annual celebration has grown into one of the largest and most diverse Highland Games in North America, according to NHSCOT, the nonprofit organization that produces the event and works to preserve and promote Scottish culture.
For newcomers moving to New Hampshire, the festival also provides an introduction to something that defines life in the Granite State: communities here take their heritage, traditions and fall festivals seriously.
From a Small Clan Picnic to a New Hampshire Tradition
The New Hampshire Highland Games have surprisingly humble roots.
NHSCOT traces its beginnings to a Scottish clan picnic held in 1975. The success of that gathering inspired the first Highland Games in 1976, eventually leading to the creation of the nonprofit originally known as The New Hampshire Gathering of the Scottish Clans.
Five decades later, what began as a small gathering has become a major three-day cultural celebration attracting Scottish heritage enthusiasts, athletes, musicians, families and visitors from across New England and beyond.
The setting is particularly fitting.
Loon Mountain sits in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, and the festival arrives just as northern New England begins transitioning into its famous fall foliage season. NHSCOT describes the event as one of New England’s popular annual celebrations.
Caber Tossing and the Strength of the Highlands
Among the biggest attractions are the traditional Highland heavy athletics. These are not ordinary track-and-field events.
Competitors take on Scottish tests of strength including the Braemar Stone, Open Stone, heavy and light weights for distance, Weight Over Bar, Sheaf Toss and the unmistakable Caber Toss. For spectators unfamiliar with Highland athletics, the competition is often one of the weekend’s most memorable introductions to Scottish sporting culture.
When the Bagpipes Fill the Mountains
Athletics may provide the spectacle, but the pipes and drums provide the soundtrack.
Throughout the weekend, pipe bands march through the festival grounds, while musicians perform Scottish, Celtic and Gaelic music ranging from traditional melodies and ballads to contemporary performances.
The combination of mountain scenery and massed pipes and drums has become one of the defining experiences of the New Hampshire festival.
Highland Dancing Keeps Centuries of Tradition Moving
Another important part of the weekend is competitive Highland dancing.
The dances combine athleticism, precision and storytelling, with traditions connected to different periods of Scottish history.
Among the best-known are the Highland Fling, Sword Dance, Seann Triubhas and Strathspey and Highland Reel. NHSCOT notes that Highland dancing requires both the endurance of an athlete and the artistry of a dancer. Competitions take place during the festival weekend.
Visitors can do more than watch. The festival’s “Try It” programs give newcomers opportunities to experience elements of Scottish culture themselves, with activities that have included Highland dancing, street curling, stone lifting and other traditions.
Discover Your Scottish Roots in Clan Village
For visitors with Scottish ancestry, Clan Village can turn a day at the festival into a personal history lesson.
Representatives of numerous Scottish clans gather to discuss their heritage, family histories and traditions, giving visitors an opportunity to investigate their own connections to Scotland.
Genealogy is part of the festival’s broader educational mission.
Seminars have explored subjects ranging from Scottish history and travel to cooking, genealogy, folklore and other aspects of Scottish life.
Visitors can also explore a Scottish living-history encampment, where historical reenactors interpret life in the Highlands between the 14th and 18th centuries.
You Don’t Have to Be Scottish
Perhaps one of the most important things for newcomers to know is that Scottish ancestry is not required.
NHSCOT explicitly welcomes visitors regardless of whether they have Scottish roots.
That makes the Highland Games as much a New Hampshire cultural experience as a Scottish one.
For a family that recently relocated to the state, attending can provide an opportunity to experience the White Mountains, meet people, learn about a centuries-old culture and participate in one of the state’s longest-running annual traditions.
Scottish Heritage Has Found a Home in New Hampshire
The Highland Games are also part of a broader effort to keep Scottish culture alive in the Granite State.
NHSCOT now operates programs throughout the year, including Highland dance, Hogmanay celebrations, Scottish cultural programming and other educational events. The organization has also been developing Camp Caledonia, a permanent Scottish cultural center in Concord designed to expand music, dance, athletics, Gaelic language and other programming beyond the annual September festival.
Yet the Highland Games remain NHSCOT’s most visible annual gathering.
For one weekend every September, the White Mountains become a meeting place between New Hampshire and Scotland—where kilts replace hiking shorts, cabers fly through the air and the sound of bagpipes rolls across the mountains.
For newcomers discovering New Hampshire for the first time, the Highland Games offer something beyond a weekend festival. They provide a glimpse into the traditions, community gatherings and distinctive cultural experiences that make living in the Granite State different.
And when hundreds of tartans appear beneath the White Mountains and the first pipes begin to play, Scotland can suddenly feel considerably closer than an ocean away.