Guide To The 2019 Dunedin Highland Games And Festival

DUNEDIN, FL -- It's time to pull those tartan kilts out of storage and brush up on your brogue.

The 53rd festival honoring Dunedin's Scottish heritage, the Dunedin Highland Games & Festival, will take place this weekend.

Pipe Band Parade

The festival will kick off Friday. April 5 with the fifth annual Pipe Band Parade down Main Street in downtown Dunedin at 6:30 p.m.

The melodic sounds of bagpipes will fill the streets as the parade as the march begins in the parking lot of Louden Avenue and heads north to Main Street, turning west in front of Dunedin City Hall, passing the shops and restaurants on Main Street and then heading west to Broadway. The route then heads south to Scotland Street, turning east back up Scotland Street to Douglas Avenue. From Douglas, the parade will head north across Main Street to Pioneer Park where it will end.

Participating in the parade will be the Dunedin Highland Middle School Band, the Dunedin Scottish Highlanders High School Band, the Jacksonville Pipes & Drums, the Atlanta Pipe Band, the MacMillan Pipe Band and the Pipes & Drums of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Classic cars will carry dignitaries including Honorary Chieftain Dr. Pat Snair, Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation President Alan McHale, Bonnie Lass Kate Breaux and Bonnie Lad Kurt Kemerer, Scottish American Society President Diane Burke and the pipe major and lead drummer of the Inverary & District Pipe Band of Scotland, Stuart Liddell and Steven McWhirter.

Leading the parade will be the Dunedin Fire Department Honor Guard. At least 10 clans and societies outfitted in traditional tartans will march as well.

Highland Games And Festival

The event will continue Saturday, April 6 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Dunedin Highlander Park, 1920 Pinehurst Road, with the Highland Trail 5K Run, solo piping and drumming competitions, performances by Scottish bagpipe bands and Highland dancing contests including the Highland Fling, the Gillie Callum (sword dance), the Seann Triubhas (old trousers) and reels.

Always a crowd favorite, athletes from around the world will compete in traditional Highland games including the caber toss, sheaf toss, hammer throw, stone throw and weight over bar under the watchful eye of games athletic director, Bob Gourlay, and his team of judges.

There will be food vendors offering a taste of Scotland as well as American fare including Cricketers Club, Cameron's British Foods, Union Jack British Foods, Blazing 28 Backdraughts and Scottish Cottage, along with a beer tent and other spirits imported from Scotland.

Merchandise vendors will display Celtic crafts, kits, Celtic wind instruments, jewelry and clothing including Celtic Vibe, Scots Corner, Carbon Celtic Winds, Celtic Elegance, Lords of Seas, Irish Ann, Galvin Leatherworks, Faire Isles Trading Co., Union Jack, The UK Market, Thistle & Pine Celtic Shop, The Celtic Bag Company, the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, Swamp Fires, Aunt MJ Creations including handmade Celtic and Renaissance clothing, Henley Natural Soap & Creams, The Celtic Boutique and the Highland Kilt Company.

A kids' zone will feature an old-fashioned sack race, arts and crafts, a face painter and a balloon artist.

Various Scottish clans will have booths set up with information and there will be displays of Scottish cattle, Clydesdale horses and Shetland ponies.

For tickets, click here. Kids 12 and under will be admitted for free.