Scottish athletics are at Rural Hill April 18-19.
HUNTERSVILLE – Want to toss the caber? Rural Hill invites area athletes to enter the 22nd Annual Rural Hill Scottish Festival and Loch Norman Highland Games on Saturday and Sunday, April 18-19, at the historic site off Neck Road. The traditional Scottish “heavy events” include stone throws, weight throws, hammer throws, caber toss, and sheaf toss. The weekend includes amateur divisions and an invitation only professional athletic competition on Saturday.
Visitors will have a chance to see world ranked professional heavy athletes including Eric Frasure, who in 2010 set a world record at Rural Hill by throwing a 20-pound sheaf 36 feet 1 inch.
“Highland games are a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes and the kilt,” Rural Hill said in an announcement this week.
Two-day tickets for the weekend are available in advance for a discount. The $27 admission includes a Celtic concert Saturday night. Tickets also will be sold at the gate the weekend of the event. Complete information and advance ticket purchases are available online at www.lochnorman.com.
Festival patrons are invited to participate in the amateur Scottish heavy athletics events on Sunday, April 19. To register for Class A and Class B events, report to the heavy athletics tent as early as 8 AM Sunday morning.
Besides the athletic competitions, the Scottish Festival and Highland Games include traditional and Celtic rock music from seven national acts and a Saturday night Celtic Jam, and piping and drumming, including sanctioned competitions and massed band performances. Also: genealogy search, Scottish clans and their representatives, Scottish country dancing, long-bow and battle axe competitions, demonstrations, whiskey seminars, the “Kids’ Zone” with children’s activities, and Rural Hill’s famous historic encampment.
New for 2015 is the addition of the Council of Scottish Clans & Association’s Annual Scottish Clans & Families Caucus including workshops and seminars held onsite throughout the Games weekend.
The event will be held rain or shine. Rural Hill is at 4431 Neck Road (off Beatties Ford Road) in Huntersville.
