Crieff Highland Gathering

🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 HAVE YOU ENTERED THE TARTAN DASH YET? 󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Entries for the 12th Crieff Tartan Dash close one month today — so it’s time to dig out the trainers, find something tartan and get your name on the start line! 💨

Taking place on Games Day — Sunday 16th August 2026 — this unique one-mile dash through Crieff is open to runners of all abilities. Race through the town, cheered on by spectators and accompanied by the sound of the pipes, before making your grand entrance into Market Park and finishing in front of the Chieftain! 🙌

🏃 Chasing a fast mile? Go for it.
🤣 Running for fun? Even better.
🏃 Full kilt or just a splash of tartan? Both welcome!

📅 Entries close: Friday 14th August
⏰ Race starts: 10:45am Sunday 16th August
📍 Registration: British Legion on the morning of the race

Don’t leave it until the last minute — enter now and be part of one of our favourite Games Day traditions!

🎟️ ENTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/crieff-highland-gathering-tartan-dash-kilt-run-2026-tickets-1990484312160

🎶 Piping Entries Update! 🎶

The response to this year's Senior Open Piping competitions has been fantastic and entries are now FULL! 🙌

Still hoping to compete? We're happy to take details from interested Senior Open competitors for our reserve list should a place become available.

But the next generation of piping talent — we want to hear from you! 🎵

Entries are still open for our Junior Piping competitions, and we'd love to welcome young pipers to compete at Crieff Highland Gathering on Sunday 16th August 2026.

👉 Enter here: https://forms.gle/wS3eS7o4KG1mKqUe9

🎶🥁 SAVE THE DATES – Pipers in the Square is Back! 🥁🎶

There’s no better way to know that Highland Games season has arrived than hearing the unmistakable sound of the pipes echoing through the centre of Crieff.

We’re delighted to welcome Comrie Pipe Band back to James Square for Pipers in the Square.

📅 Thursday 23rd July
📅 Thursday 30th July
📅 Thursday 6th August
📅 Thursday 13th August

🕖 7.00pm
📍 James Square, Crieff

Whether you’re meeting friends, enjoying a summer evening stroll, or simply want to soak up the atmosphere, come along and enjoy four fantastic evenings of traditional Scottish music as we count down to Crieff Highland Gathering on Sunday 16th August.

Grab a coffee or an ice cream, and enjoy one of Crieff’s favourite summer traditions.

We look forward to seeing you there! 🎶

Highland Dancing – Where History Meets Athleticism

When most people think of Highland Games, they picture cabers, hammers and heavyweight athletes.

But some of the oldest traditions on the Games field are performed not with brute strength, but with remarkable skill, precision and grace.

The origins of Highland Dancing are woven from history, folklore and tradition. Many of the dances performed today are said to have their roots in Scotland's warrior culture, where agility, stamina and balance were every bit as important as strength.

The famous Sword Dance (Gille Calum) is steeped in legend. Warriors are said to have danced over crossed swords before battle, with a clean performance believed to be a sign of victory to come.

The Highland Fling, one of Scotland's most recognisable dances, is often linked to celebrations of triumph, while folklore suggests some of its movements imitate the proud stance and antlers of the Highland stag.

Then there is Seann Triubhas – Gaelic for "old trousers" – a dance said to reflect the defiance of Highland Scots following the ban on traditional Highland dress after the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

Whether every story is fact or folklore, these dances remain a living connection to Scotland's past.

Today's Highland dancers are extraordinary athletes. Every leap, turn and landing demands strength, balance, timing and years of dedicated practice. Behind the smiles and tartan lies a highly competitive discipline where success is measured by precision, technique and stamina.

At Crieff Highland Gathering, you'll see some of Scotland's finest dancers continuing a tradition that has been passed down through generations.

A celebration of culture, a test of athleticism, a uniquely Scottish spectacle...

Join us on Sunday 16th August 2026 at Market Park, Crieff, and experience the colour, energy and tradition of Highland Dancing for yourself.

🎟️ Tickets available now at www.crieffhighlandgathering.com

🏃‍♂️ Running Through Highland History 🏃‍♀️

What if we told you that one of the oldest traditions of the Highland Games isn't the caber toss, but running?

According to Highland tradition, King Malcolm III is said to have held a race on Craig Choinnich, overlooking Braemar, more than 900 years ago. The prize wasn't a medal or a trophy. Legend has it he was searching for the fastest runner in Scotland to serve as his royal messenger. Whether every detail is fact or folklore, the story captures the spirit of the Highland Games perfectly.

For centuries, the Highlands demanded speed, endurance and resilience. Messengers carried news across mountains and glens, warriors needed the fitness to cover huge distances through some of Scotland's toughest terrain. The fastest earned respect, the toughest runners earned admiration.

Today's athletes may be racing on a marked track rather than a Highland hillside, but the challenge remains remarkably similar. Every sprint, every middle-distance race and every finish-line battle is a test of determination, courage and the will to keep going when others begin to fade.

When competitors take their places at the start line in Crieff, they are following in the footsteps of generations of Highland athletes who ran not just for victory, but to prove themselves among their peers.

And somewhere in the folklore of the Highlands, King Malcolm's challenge still echoes, 'Who is the fastest in the land?'

🏃 Join us on Sunday 16th August 2026 at Market Park, Crieff, and witness one of the oldest and most enduring traditions of the Highland Games.

🎟️ Tickets available now at www.crieffhighlandgathering.com

💪Tug o' War – One of the World's Oldest Team Sports! 💪

Long before football, rugby or even the Highland Games, people were testing their strength against one another with a rope. Ancient carvings from Egypt, China, India and Cambodia show that versions of Tug o' War have been played for thousands of years. Across cultures and continents, the challenge was always the same: two teams, one rope and a contest of strength, teamwork and determination.

Closer to home, the sport became firmly embedded in British military tradition. Sailors aboard Royal Navy ships spent their working lives hauling heavy ropes, raising sails and moving equipment. It wasn't long before friendly rivalries emerged as crews challenged one another to prove who was strongest. Those contests helped shape the modern sport we know today.

When Highland Games grew in popularity during the 19th century, Tug o' War was a natural fit. Like the Heavy Events, it celebrates power, grit and skill. But unlike the caber or hammer, victory doesn't belong to one athlete – it belongs to a team pulling together as one.

Today, Tug o' War remains one of the most dramatic events at Crieff Highland Gathering. There are no complicated rules and nowhere to hide. A team on each side, a rope stretched tight, and a battle of strength and determination that can be over in seconds or last for what feels like an eternity.

When the contest starts, centuries of history become very simple: PULL!

🏆 Join us on Sunday 16th August 2026 at Market Park, Crieff, and experience Scotland's Premier Highland Games for yourself.

🎟️ Tickets available now at www.crieffhighlandgathering.com. Explore the Heavyweights, Tug o' War, Highland Dancing, Piping, Cycling, Running and much more.

💪The Heavyweights Return to Crieff Highland Gathering! 💪

Few sights are more iconic, more Scottish, or more spectacular than a caber turning through the air against a Perthshire sky. The origins of the caber toss are lost somewhere between history and folklore. Some say it evolved from Highland woodsmen moving timber through forests and rivers. Others tell tales of warriors throwing heavy beams across burns, ditches and boggy ground to help their clans advance. Whatever the truth, by the late 1500s "tossing of ye barr" was already being recorded as a test of strength, skill and fitness.

What many visitors don't realise is that the caber toss isn't really about strength alone. The world's strongest athlete can still be beaten by a competitor with better balance, timing and technique. The goal isn't distance – it's perfection. A perfect throw sees the caber flip completely over and land pointing directly away from the athlete at "12 o'clock".

And then there is the legend of The Crieff Challenge Caber. Introduced in 1994, our Challenge Caber has become one of the most talked-about events in Highland Games competition. The original caber came from Atholl Estates near Pitlochry. Its successor, sourced from Drummond Estate near Crieff, is an absolute monster – standing an incredible 21 feet 4 inches tall. Each year, after the Scottish Championship has been decided, the athletes face this giant in one final test.

Will this be the year someone conquers the monster?

Join us at Crieff Highland Gathering and witness one of Scotland's greatest sporting traditions for yourself, get your tickets at www.crieffhighlandgathering.com

💪🪨 THEY'RE BACK! 🪨💪

We're delighted to welcome back Charlie and the team with the legendary Ardblair Stones to this year's Highland Games!

Suitable for all ages and abilities to come along and have a go, Ardblair Stones are nine reinforced concrete spheres ranging in weight from 18kg to 152kg (40-335lbs). Competitors must lift the stones sequentially from lightest to heaviest onto whisky butts, with the event judged on both the number of stones lifted and the time taken.

These iconic stones have tested the strength, grit and determination of competitors and are a really popular attraction! The largest stone weighs an incredible 152kg – about the same as a giant panda! 🐼💥

Whether you're aiming to conquer all nine stones or simply looking to challenge yourself and beat your friends, this is one event you won't want to miss.

A huge thank you to their sponsor Castle Water for supporting the Ardblair Stones and helping keep this fantastic event alive. 💧👏

Who fancies taking on the Panda Stone? 👀💪