Glengarry Highland Games

From Glengarryceltic

For sixty years the Glengarry Highland Games have showcased the best of Scottish athletics, music and culture. Peter MacInnes, one of our 2007 inductees, is credited with the idea and realization of the first Games. In his own words:

“I began to wonder why we could not have a Games like this in old Glengarry. Our Scottish background was as historical and colourful as any other locality in Canada or the United States, and from older people I had heard that Scottish Games had been held in different parts of Glengarry in the earlier days. Holding games now would in reality be a revival of something very dear to the heart of Glengarry people.”

For the first Games in 1948, Ken MacRae composed a song entitled The Glengarry Highland Games. When 20,000 people attended instead of the 8,000 expected, it was clear that Peter was right. The Glengarry Games are now amongst the world’s largest Highland Games. The town of Maxville (first named for its abundance of “Macs”) welcomes more than ten times its population during Games weekend when fiddles and bagpipes are tuned and the earth trembles under the largest massing of pipe bands on earth.

For more information on the games, visit the official website.