Labor Day weekend saw the return of the Scottish Highland Gathering and Games to the Alameda County Fairgrounds, celebrating the country’s culture and traditions.
From Saturday to Sunday, attendees enjoyed traditional Scottish music, dancing and food. The festival also hosted a liquor tasting which offered a variety of scotches, as well as Irish and American whiskeys.
“It’s not just a gathering of competition bagpipes and whatnot. It’s a gathering of friends,” said Ron Dunne, the first chieftain of the San Francisco Caledonian Club.
The Caledonian Club has been hosting the weekend gathering, now celebrating its 157th festival, since 1866.
This year, the festival hosted the 2023 Women’s World and the U.S. Mens & Womens Heavy Athletics Championships, where athletes compete at throwing a variety of heavy objects.
The most famous of the events is called the “caber toss.” Competitors throw large tapered poles, which look similar to wooden telephone poles, with the goal of throwing it successfully end-over-end.
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