Nashville, Tenn. (September 4, 2019) – The annual Middle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic Festival claims a new home at Percy Warner Park this weekend on Saturday, Sept. 7th from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m and Sunday, Sept. 8th from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The event brings together families every year to learn, appreciate, preserve, and celebrate Scottish and Celtic traditions for charitable, educational, social, and athletic purposes.
The festival features Scottish Highland athletic competitions, a Kid’s cultural activity area with mini-games and crafts, demonstrations, a Celtic Market with unique vendors, continuous live music, Scottish bagpipers, traditional Celtic dancers, and so much more.
Some highlights for the festival include:
Entertainment
- Two stages of Celtic traditional and Celtic rock music.
- Three bagpipe and drum bands who will roam the grounds and participate in a mass band gathering.
- A dance stage featuring both Scottish and Irish dancers.
- A solo bagpipe competition, open for all to watch
Athletics
- Male and female athletes competing in the stone put, caber toss, sheaf toss, hammer throws, and weight throws. Men under 40 compete in the “Men’s Class”, while men over 40 compete in the “Master Class”.
- There will be Hurling demonstrations on Saturday and Rugby demonstrations on Sunday.
Vendors
- Dozens of art, food and beer vendors will be on-site for guests to enjoy including booths geared toward children’s interests.
Culture
- Explore the Celtic history that played such a large part in settling much of Tennessee while learning about individual family clans’ heritage, maybe find a piece of your own ancestry.
Demonstrations
- Watch the Phil Lakin Farms - Sheep Dog Herding demonstrations and pet the sheep.
Family Fun
- The Kid’s Celtic Quest Presented by Nashville Parent where children can “pass through the stones at Craigh Na Dun” and enter the exciting world of Merida, Harry Potter and Nessie of The Loch Ness.
- Make a Sporran - Paint their Face and Pick up a Passport to journey through the ancient culture.
- Hear Stories - Toss a Caber and venture out to find a playing bagpiper, the oldest national flag, a pair of dancing ghillies and a real highland coo.
- Collect passport stamps at the Family Clans Village.
- Visit the tradesmen of the Celtic Market - Watch the Border Collies work - Pet the Highland Sheep - Listen to the Music - Learn a Dance - Toss the Haggis
- Test their strength in the Great Tug-o-War.
- At the journey’s end Collect a Quest Medal keeping it to reimagine all the ancient adventures until returning to Quest again another day.
- Mini golf activities for the whole family.
Ticketing information:
- Pre-purchased Day Tickets to the games begin at $20 for Saturday and $15 for Sunday for adults and $10 for Saturday and $5 for Sunday for children and $15 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday for active or retired military personnel.
- Pre-purchased Weekend Passes to the Games are $30 for adults and $10 for children and $20 for active or retired military.
- Visitors to the games and festival may bring lawn chairs to enjoy a fun-filled day of music and culture.
It is strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to avoid the lines at the gate. For more information and to purchase your tickets head to www.midtenngames.com
A portion of all ticket proceeds for this event will benefit the Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
Event is "Rain or Shine"
Proud sponsors for The Middle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic Festival include: Music City Light, New Heights, Diskin Cider, Boswells Golf Cars, Mattress King, Caledonian Financial, The Celtic Cup, Alpha Graphics, Hello Fresh, Crossroads Chiropractic and Nashville Parent.