Recently we attended the 4th annual Las Vegas Celtic Gathering and Highland Games. Located at Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, the gathering was a just another great example of the amazing diversity of our favorite city.

The gathering featured dancing, pipe band and athletic competitions, as well as traditional Scottish food (and some non-traditional food – I never pass up a funnel cake) and hundreds of kilt-wearing participants.

The first written reference to Highland dancing dates back 1,000 years, and originally this athletic dance-style was used to train soldiers. Participants competed in many types of dances at the Celtic Gathering, including Highland Fling, Flora MacDonald’s Fancy and Seann Triubhas (pronounced Shawn Troos).

Traditional Scottish music could be heard throughout the park as pipe bands practiced for their competitions. Getting to see the bands before their events, tuning the bagpipes and going over last-minute details, was a great behind-the-scenes experience.

In Heavy Events Athletics, participants compete in eight events (such as throwing weights and stones for distance) all in the same day. By the afternoon, when we saw the athletes compete in Weight Over Bar (which involves throwing a 56-pound weight over a bar 15+ feet in the air), they had been competing since early morning. Clearly, competitors need strength and endurance to excel.

The Las Vegas Celtic Gathering and Highland Games is a great way to spend a day in the park. Visit the following link for more information on the Las Vegas Celtic Society and next year’s Celtic Gathering.

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