The Glasgow Highland Games

A Scottish festival. In a town in Kentucky named after a Scottish city. How cool is that?! People at work kinda rolled their eyes when they told me about the festival, but for me, as an outsider, I could not wait to go!

Men wearing kilts? Celtic rock? Tossing packets of hay over a vault? Count me in!

Going to the festival was almost like stepping back in time. There were lots of booths set up and people were selling bows and arrows, machetes, swords...the whole festival felt very medieval. I almost wanted to buy something but then I caught myself and I was like, what am I gonna do with a bow and arrow?

In the middle of the festival, they had a "parade of tartans". I never knew but each tartan, each pattern, has a story behind it. It can mean a particular "clan", it can mean a particular subset of the clan, plaid is a lot more than just plaid! That was the moral of the story for me.

And special thanks to this guy from clan Barkley who stopped to chat and explain the deal behind tartans, clans, and family seals. These Scottish folk were some of the nicest people I've met so far in Kentucky!

So back to the parade, each clan came out to represent and they marched in front of the festival elder, which I guess is the highest-ranking member of the clan that is in charge of that year's festival. The elder saluted each clan as they walked by and in return, the clans lowered their flags as a sign of respect. It was such a cute display! I'm sure they would detest the word "cute" being used to describe this custom...but it was cute!