Highland Games

2020 Edinboro Highland Games CANCELLED

Due to continuing COVID-19 concerns, the 2020 Edinboro Highland Games & Scottish Festival has been cancelled. Please plan to join us September 11, 2021 for the 27th annual festival and games."

Sponsors

To become a festival sponsor, visit the Sponsorship Page on the Edinboro University Marketplace.

A Brief History

The first Edinboro Highland Games and Scottish Festival was held in April 1993, after eight months of planning in Dr. Tim Thompson’s communication classes. On a day featuring typical Scottish weather, a crowd of five hundred enjoyed two pipe bands, one vendor, kids’ games, and student athletic competitions. 

Crowds of five thousand or more now enjoy the annual games that feature an array of competitions, world-class musicians, fine gift vendors, and the gathering of Scottish clans. Musicians including master fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Bonnie Rideout, the piper Eric Rigler of Braveheart fame, singer Ed Miller, and groups such as Cherish the Ladies, Seven Nations and the Chelsea House Orchestra have thrilled audiences across twenty years. In 2003, the Downtown Edinboro Art and Music Festival was born as part of the Edinboro Highland Games. While the Scottish Festival has since moved to a September date, the Art & Music Festival continues to thrive as a wonderful tradition each May. The Edinboro Games now hold sanctioned competitions in professional and amateur heavy athletics, pipe band and solo piping and drumming, highland dance, Celtic and Scottish harp, and the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championships. Along with delicious Scottish and festival foods and family gatherings, the Edinboro Highland Games have grown into one of the most unique and interesting cultural events in the Erie-Chautauqua region.