Dunedin Highland Games & Festival celebrates city’s Scottish heritage
DUNEDIN — The 56th annual Dunedin Highland Games and Festival will take place Saturday, April 6, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Highlander Park, 903 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin. The Dunedin Highland Games and Festival, presented by the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, will take place on Saturday, April 6 at Highlander Park in Dunedin. The event, which has been held since 1967, aims to raise funds for the city's pipe band programs and present a Scottish event for the community. Proceeds from the event are donated to the same three pipe band program each year. For the 2024 event, the Highland Games Kickoff Party will begin with live Celtic music and vendors, followed by a parade of pipe bands and clans marching down Main Street in downtown Dunedin, marking the start of the event. Tickets are $25 at the gate, but can also be purchased for pre-sale in advance for $20 online. Tickets for the VIP tent likely sell out a few weeks prior to the games. The 2024 Florida Open Highland Dance Championship will feature hundreds of Highland dancers from across North America and Scotland competing in various traditional Scottish Highland dance events all day long.
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DUNEDIN — The 56th annual Dunedin Highland Games and Festival will take place Saturday, April 6, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Highlander Park, 903 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin.
The annual Scottish festival, presented by the Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation, has been held in Dunedin since 1967. It was first presented as a coordinated fundraising event to support the Dunedin middle school, high school, and city of Dunedin pipe band programs and to raise funds for the Scottish arts education while simultaneously presenting a Scottish event for the Dunedin community.
The Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation maintains this tradition today by donating the proceeds of the Highland Games back to those same three pipe band programs each year.
Since 1967, the event has grown to become one of the largest events in the United States, attracting the largest gathering of piper’s drummers and Highland dancers in Florida each year. For the 2024 event, the festivities will get started in downtown Dunedin on Friday, April 5, with the Highland Games Kickoff Party, which will feature live Celtic music and some vendors.
The kickoff event will start at 4:30 p.m., and will include a parade of pipe bands and clans marching down Main Street in downtown Dunedin at 6:30 p.m. According to event organizers, this will be a fun and exciting way to celebrate Tartan Day 2024 and will serve as a way to launch the Dunedin Highland Games and Festival. Music will finish Friday around 8 p.m.
On Saturday, April 6, the Dunedin Highland Games and Festival will get underway at Highlander Park when gates open to the public at 8 a.m.
All parking is off-site for the event, found at the nearby Dunedin High School and two local churches, with complimentary continuous shuttle service all day. Tickets are $25 at the gate, but can also be purchased for pre-sale in advance for $20 online. There is also an option to purchase a ticket for the VIP tent which covers entry to the games plus access to the VIP tent which includes catered food throughout the event, as well as beer, wine, soda, and water.
Tickets for the VIP tent likely will sell out a few weeks prior to the games.
There is something for everyone to enjoy at the Dunedin Highland Games and Festival.
Event organizers are expecting “upwards of 50 Scottish Clans and Societies” at the Clan Village area, according to a press release. This provides festivalgoers with an opportunity to learn more about the various clans represented and their modern-day activities, as well as a chance to explore genealogy connections.
There will be live Celtic music bands performing throughout the day, both in the Clan Village area, as well as in the main entertainment tent and beer tent area. There are also demonstrations of traditional Scottish country dancing.
Scottish Heavy Athletics competitions start early in the morning and always attract a large audience. Events such as the hammer throw and caber toss are always crowd favorites.
The 2024 Florida Open Highland Dance Championship will feature hundreds of Highland dancers from all over North America and Scotland competing in various traditional Scottish Highland dance events all day long. This event has grown so large that it now runs inside the auditorium of the Dunedin Community Center, adjacent to Highlander Park.
Bagpipes, drumming, and pipe bands are a highlight of the Dunedin Highland Games. Solo piping and drumming competitions will start early in the morning at 8 a.m. at all grade levels. The Dunedin Scottish Arts Foundation brings in adjudicators from all over North America and Scotland of the highest caliber, which in turn regularly attracts piping and drumming competitors of a high standard. The pipe band contests will begin in the afternoon, and the closing ceremonies, where all bands will play together before receiving the announcements of the day's prize list, will be the largest massed bands event in Florida, consisting of hundreds of pipers and drummers all playing together.
There will be a variety of vendors displaying and selling merchandise at the Dunedin Highland games. Festivalgoers will find Celtic merchandise as well as an abundance of food vendors, offering guests appetizing selections ranging from hamburgers and chicken tenders to Scottish meat pies.
To get the most out of the day, event organizers recommend attendees arrive in the morning, allowing time to fully explore the vendors and enjoy some of the competitions before the largest crowds arrive in the afternoon. The opening ceremonies will be presented at noon and will feature pipe bands, and a Parade of Clans.
For the latest information on the Dunedin Highland Games and Festival, visit www.dunedinhighlandgames.com and follow the festival’s Facebook page.