Highland Games Press Room

The 63rd annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games return to Western North Carolina July 12-15, 2018. Please visit us in the Press Tent during the Highland Games for more information and to pick up your complimentary copy of the Highland Games program, featuring thorough information on the individual events, music, honored guests and history.

Click here for a general press release about the 2016 Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.
July 7, 2016: Beech Mountain resident Michael Holland wins ‘The Bear’
July 9, 2016: Amanda Ford dominates women’s Scottish Games
July 9, 2016: Mint Hill, Gastonia residents win Grandfather Mountain Marathon
July 10, 2016: GMHG names Track and Field Athletes of the Games

July 10, 2016: Miller Bros. dominate throws at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games

Founded	Sponsoring Organization	Mission
Event Dates	Location	Special in 2017
Number of Clans Participating	Number of Clan Tents	Attendance
Distinguished Guests	Staff	Featured bagpipe bands
Featured Entertainers	Participating Nonprofit Organizations	GMHG Scholars

Founded:
1956 by Agnes MacRae Morton and former Charlotte News reporter Donald MacDonald.

Sponsoring Organization:
Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, Inc.

Mission:
GMHG is a nonprofit, non-stock corporation licensed under the laws of North Carolina to carry on and promote the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans, to foster and restore interest in traditional dancing, piping, athletic achievement and Gaelic culture, and to create and establish scholarship funds to assist students from Avery County High School to study at American colleges and universities.

Event Dates: July 12-15, 2018
Always held on the second full weekend in July. The earliest the Games will occur is July 6-9 (in years when the first of July falls on a Saturday), and the latest it occurs is July 12-15 (in years when the first of July falls on a Sunday).

Location:
MacRae Meadows, U.S. Highway 221, two miles north of Linville, N.C., and one mile south of the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 305.

Special in 2018: Now for the fourth year, the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games presents the Scottish Cultural Village, where experts will discuss or demonstrate numerous aspects of Scottish culture, including blacksmithing, weaving, spinning, athletics, piping and drumming, dancing and more. The experts will present every 30 minutes throughout the weekend in Grove 3. Visit gmhg.org for more information.

Number of Scottish Clans and Societies Participating: Approximately 123

Number of Clan Tents Ringing the Field: Approximately 170

Estimated Annual Attendance: 20,000-25,000

2018 Honored and Distinguished Guests: See gmhg.org for information.