Dunedin Prepares For 52nd Signature Highland Games & Festival

DUNEDIN, FL – Prelude events for Dunedin’s signature event, the 52nd annual Highland Games & Festival, will get underway Saturday, March 31, at Weaver Park with the traditional Hail to the Chieftan event.

The 2018 honorary chieftain of the Highland Games has a lifelong association with Highland Games.

Dunedin chiropractor Pat Snair, a 30-year resident of Dunedin, is the daughter of Sidney Snair who brought the first Highland Games to Dunedin in 1967.

Pat Snair was a pipe major at Dunedin High School and a member of the first City of Dunedin Pipe Band. She later joined the alumni band and still performs at funerals, benefits and social gatherings.

She belongs to North Rotary Club of Dunedin, is an executive member of the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, director of the Community Outreach, has an ex-officio seat on the city’s Arts & Culture Advisory Committee and oversees the VIP area Dunedin’s Highland events.

The Hail to the Chieftan event will run from 5 to 9 p.m. Snair will arrive at the kick-off event at Weaver Park, 1258 Bayshore Blvd., at sunset (around 7 p.m.) in an outrigger canoe.

She will be accompanied by Bonnie Lass Kate Breaux and Bonnie Lad Kurt Kemerer. Both Breaux, a piper, and Kemerer, a drummer, are high school freshmen chosen by City Piping Director Iain Donaldson for their leadership and participation in the program.

They will be met at the park’s 725-foot-long pier by 30 bagpipers.

Afterward, there will be Highland dancing by the Isle of Skye Highland Dancers and a free concert by local cover band The Shakes Society. Vendors and beer will be available.

Ceiligh

The traditional Ceiligh, a social event featuring Scottish singing, traditional dancing and storytelling, will take place Friday, April 6.

A pipe band parade through downtown Dunedin will kick off the party, which will run from 7 to 10 p.m. in Pioneer Park, 420 Main St., Dunedin.

Highland Games & Festival

Saturday, April 7, the much-anticipated Dunedin Highland Games & Festival will kick off at 8 a.m. at Highlander Park, 1929 Pinehurst Road, and run through 8 p.m.

It will feature more than 1,000 competitors in Highland dancing, solo piping and drumming, pipe bands, Scottish Heavy Athletics and a 5K Highland Trail Run.

All-day entertainment on two stages will feature Off Kilter and Seven Nations.

Festival-goers can visit more than 30 Scottish clans and societies to research their heritage, enjoy Celtic food, beer, wine and cider and peruse a variety of Scottish crafts and gifts.

A kids’ zone will offer games for the wee ones.

Tickets are $15 in advance through the Highland Games website and $18 at the gate. Children age 12 and under will be admitted for free.

Parking will be available at Dunedin High School, 1651 Pinehurst Road, Dunedin,with a shuttle bus to Highlander Park.

Images via Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation