Antigonish Highland Games (07-13-13)

This year is the 150th anniversary of the Antigonish Highland Games.  Before I arrived in the town, I said Antigonish incorrectly.  I pronounced it An-TI-gone-ish.  It only took a day or two to pronounce it like a native.  For my Boston friends, think in terms of Peabody.  Not pronounced Pee-BAWDY, but PEE-budy, with barely a vowel sound.  Well, Antigonish is pronounced Any-gu-NISH but its said very quickly, with no lingering on the vowels.

Two things about this post.  First, I wrote it in a rush, because I have to take advantage of the Wi-Fi we have today, and second, there are several videos, but I put still shots for those who have limited bandwidth.

So, anyway, with that out of the way, the games officially opened Friday night. After the pomp and circumstance there was a concert and fireworks. The three day weekend was chock full of events to attend.  You can buy tickets for one event, one day, or you can do what we did and buy the Passport, which let you into everything for the entire weekend. 



We were glad we did it that way because we wouldn’t have gone to several things if we’d had to pay separately and we really would have missed out. As it is, we are completely exhausted, but we had one of the best times we’ve had in a long time.

After the fireworks, the action moved into the large tent, for the first of several ceilidhs. A ceilidh is a social gathering where they play Scottish or Irish music. It’s pronounced Kay-lee.  This one was over the top! 
We probably stayed later than we should have because we were really enjoying the music.  Saturday morning we had to get up early and get back to Antigonish.  The closest RV park we could get a spot in is about 30 minutes away and the parade started at 9 am. 

This town is very proud of its Scottish heritage, and kilt wearing was the norm on this weekend.  Even the cop directing traffic wore his kilt!

We managed to find a spot to park the beast and make it to Main Street in time.  The parade was actually pretty good- with numerous piping bands and floats, it lasted quite a while.


The weather Saturday was perfect for being outdoors all day and watching competitions.

All day long the Highland Dance contest took place on the main stage.  We could see that from the grandstands where we were watching the field events.

The athletes had the main field, where they competed to show off their physical abilities. Several new World Records were set this weekend. 

The events included the 22 lb Hammer Toss.  These guys twirl around several times before throwing the hammer as far as they can.

With the Farmer’s Walk, the contestants carry two tubes, each one weighing 204 lbs. They have to walk 100 feet down the track.  Whoever has the fastest time wins.  7.8 seconds won that contest.

 

The 56 lb weight “for distance” is another contest.  These guys spin around and toss a 56 lb weight as far as they can.









The most popular individual contest is the Caber Toss. A caber is basically a small tree trunk that weighs about 150 lbs. The idea is to run with the caber, and toss it so that it lands directly in front of you at a 12:00 position. It has to flip over, end over end, to count.  There are only a handful of people who can actually do it




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Here’s a video of someone actually flipping the caber:

My favorite athletic event was the Tug of War.  There are men's teams and women's teams. The first thing they do is dig their trenches so they can dig their feet in, to keep from sliding.

When they first start, they lean back and almost casually pull on the rope.  The announcer said it would be an 8 minute “pull”, with a 1 minute overtime if there is a tie.  My first thought was, so, what, we watch them all lean back for 8 minutes??

After a few minutes I could start to see the strategies.  They pull down low to put the opponents off balance, for instance.

They are pulling so hard they take a hand off the rope once in a while and slap it on their leg to get the circulation going again. 


Then, at whatever moment the coach deems right, one team makes a move.  They turn over and start trying to run away with the rope.









That’s where the real fun begins, and it was surprisingly interesting to watch.  These girls were definitely working hard!

In the meantime, all morning, at  the Piper’s Glen, the solo pipers and drummers were putting on their best show in front of a judge. 

The glen is set up so that there are multiple small areas, surrounded by trees, where the contestants could play without being disturbed by other people’s music. We could wander around listening to whoever we wanted.





 

Saturday evening there was an original stage production, called The Ships of 1801, that was performed at the nearby college. We were going to pass on that, but found out it’s included in our ticket, so we ended up going. 





We were really glad we did.  The show was a musical about 4 ships that arrived in Nova Scotia from Scotland in 1801. The music did an awesome job of telling the story of why these people made the voyage, and what hardships they endured in order get a new start.


The show didn’t get out until about 10 pm, and there was another Ceilidh back at the games site.  We were tired, but after last night’s great music, we wanted to check it out.  This band (American Rogues) is one of the best we’ve heard in a long time, so we were definitely glad we got to hear them.  We even bought their CD. That was another case of, if we’d had to pay separate, we wouldn’t have gone.

Sunday the weather was much hotter than Saturday, making it a not-so-comfortable day to be outside all day. The temperature topped out at over 90 degrees.  When I went back for my second Slurpee of the day, the guy apologized that none of them were frozen anymore. The machines just couldn't keep up with the demands.  Several vendors also ran out of cold water.  There were tons of umbrellas in use to keep the sun away.  We used ours as much as possible too.

In the afternoon the full piping bands competed in front of the judges. There are five grades, with Grade 1 being the highest.  There was only one Grade 1 band in the competition, so I guess they weren't really competing, more like practicing.

 In August they will head to Scotland to compete in the World Championship.  They were incredible.

The final event was the Mass Band event.  All the bands come to the field and play together.  At that point the awards are given out.  Afterwards there was another Ceilidh, but after a few minutes we decided we were done being hot, and left to go home.