Keg toss competition (Photograph courtesy of Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival)

By Andrea C. Turner
The Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio hosts the Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival June 23-24 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea. The weekend festival offers a wide array of events for all ages and interests.
Friday Ceilidh Gates will open at 4:45 p.m. The entertainment pavilion will be filled with musical entertainment until 10:30 p.m. The evening will include the “Calling of the Clans” event. Advanced ticket prices are $12 for adults and $7 for juniors (13-17 years old). Gate pricing is $15 for adults and $10 for juniors. Children 12 and younger are free for all events and dates.
Saturday Highland Games Gates open at 8 a.m. Saturday’s event includes the parade of competitors, bagpipe competition, Scottish heavy athletics, live competitive jousting, keg toss, haggis throw, highland dance competitions, harp and fiddle competition, entertainment, genealogy, clans, entertainment, workshops, whiskey tasting, kilted mile, food and merchandise vendors and its premiere event, Tattoo, at 6:30 p.m. Tattoo is led by the Massed Pipes and Drums as they perform in front of the Grand Stands at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds along with performances by highland dancers, harpists and fiddlers. The Massed Pipes and Drums will perform Flowers of the Forest to honor those who have passed in the last year as well as “Scotland The Brave” and the ever-popular “Amazing Grace.” The honor guard this year is from American Legion Post 610, Brook Park. Singing the National Anthems of Scotland, Ireland, and the US is Katie Cooper.
Advanced tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for juniors. Cash gate sales are $20 for adults and $15 for juniors. New this year is a discounted Saturday evening late entry ticket. Attendees will be permitted to enter the festival after 5 p.m. Advanced ticket prices are $12 for adult tickets, $7 for juniors. Gate sales are $15 for adults and $10 for juniors.
A whiskey tasting pass is available for an additional $45, and is good Friday at 4:45 p.m. through Saturday at 10:30 p.m. Use tickets to receive a punch card which entitles bearers to a complimentary glass and six, one-ounce pours of single malt whiskey. Tickets may be shared.
Ticket sales are open now at https://www.ohioscottishgames.com/tickets. Be sure to print them in advance and bring them to the gates for entry. On-line ticketing will be available through the June 24-25 weekend.
Did you know?
The Ohio tartan was designed by a former Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival Trustee, Ms. M.J. McMichael Fischbach. The colors are taken from the Ohio flag, seal and other state symbols. Red represents the cardinal, the state bird. White represents Ohio’s major cities. Blue symbolizes Ohio’s waterways from the Ohio River to Lake Erie. Azure from the far hills of the seal, denotes the eight sons of Ohio who served as presidents of the United States. The azure-blue-azure combination represents Ohio as the birthplace of “light, flight, and the first man on the moon” – an homage to Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, and Neil Armstrong. Gold from the seal symbolizes Ohio’s leadership in agriculture. The thread count proportions are based on the date Ohio was admitted to the Union: March 1, 1803. After being submitted for set review to the Scottish Tartan Society, it was approved and registered as the Ohio Tartan on March 29, 1984.