Highland Games Press Room

The 65th annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games return to Western North Carolina July 8-11, 2021. 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 extensive information on the individual events, music, honored guests and history. For more information, please contact frank@grandfather.com or the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games office at (828) 733-1333 or gmhginfo@yahoo.com.

Founded	Sponsoring Organizations	Mission
Event Dates	Location	Special in 2021
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 8-11, 2021
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 9-12 (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 2021: The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games once again will begin with Thursday night’s Torchlight Ceremony, where the clans officially come together to celebrate their Scottish heritage. Friday and Saturday are filled with highland dancing competition, border collie demonstrations, Scottish fiddle and harp competitions, Gaelic singing, Scottish country dancing, piping and drumming competitions, Scottish spinning and weaving, track and field events including the popular kilted mile, and Scottish athletic events including the caber toss. Other popular features include the Grandfather Mountain Marathon and “The Bear,” a five-mile race that begins at the foot of Grandfather Mountain and climbs up to a height of 1,568 feet.

Number of Scottish Clans and Societies Participating: More than 100

Number of Clan Tents Ringing the Field: Approximately 150

Estimated Annual Attendance: 30,000-40,000

2021 Honored and Distinguished Guest: Sir Alexander Matheson of Matheson (Chieftain of the Games)

Sir Alexander was born on Aug. 26, 1954. He joined the Army in 1973, serving in the Coldstream Guards for 28 years until 2001. His postings included Adjutant of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Chief of Staff of British Forces Belize, Brigade Major of the Household Division and Commanding Officer of the Oxford University Officers Training Corps.