Pleasanton highland games

[Richrail]

Just wondering who might be going to the gathering and games Labor day weekend. http://www.thescottishgames.com/. My wife and I will be there and will be bringing our Japanese exchange student. Hope to see many of you there.

This is from last year.


This from a couple of years ago.

[California Highlander]

I have my ticket already and will be there, probably just on Saturday. I'll be making the rounds, but will also be at the Clan Mackintosh tent or around Clan Chattan and in front of whatever stage Albannach is playing.

Hope to see you. Maybe there will be some type of XMarks meet up?

Wildcat tartan at the clan Mackintosh tent.




The mighty 'nach below.

[Richrail]

I have my ticket already and will be there, probably just on Saturday. I'll be making the rounds, but will also be at the Clan Mackintosh tent or around Clan Chattan and in front of whatever stage Albannach is playing.

Hope to see you. Maybe there will be some type of XMarks meet up?

Wildcat tartan at the clan Mackintosh tent.




The mighty 'nach below.

I will be wearing my Wildcat kilt at least one of the two days.

[Panache]

I'll be there with the F-H.C.A.G. and kids!

I'll be performing with the Red Thistle Dancers at our show and also in an adjudication team performance

Looking forward to seeing my kilted friends and fellow X Markers

Cheers

Jamie

[TexasPete]

Any tips for dealing with the heat? The weather report is saying temperatures around 108 on Saturday.

Are there spots at the festival to get out of the sun and cool off?

[OC Richard]

I've been up there with pipe bands in that over-100 heat, it's very challenging to keep the pipes working.

You put ice cubes in the bag. No kidding.

For sure pipe band people run into the problem of Glengarries being the most ill-suited headgear for hot sunny weather imaginable. Perhaps more pipe bands will go with the Airy Glengarry. Or ditch Glengarries altogether and wear Tilly hats in competition! (I wonder what the judges would think.)

In any case I'm very sorry to say that I'll miss Pleasanton for maybe the 2nd or 3rd time in 40 years. (They were the Santa Rosa Games, back then, and you stayed at the notorious El Rauncho.)

I find myself band-less at the moment and I decided to attend Long Beach Comic-Con instead. (I'll be indoors, in nice air-conditioning, all weekend.)

Have a great weekend in Pleasanton! I'll be with you, in spirit.

[California Highlander]

They let the pipe bands decide to omit headgear. (band's discretion) Also many things were moved off the track into shade or at least partial shade. For example, the clan march circled the main area, but didn't enter the track area. Also, I saw at least one band playing in the grandstand instead of the track area where they usually are.

It was 112F at 3pm on Saturday! Didn't stop me from seeing The Fire, then Albannach!

The buildings with vendors were all air conditioned. So moving around wasn't so bad. Clan tent > music > vendors in the aircon > pipe bands > dancers > Belhaven > vendors.

I was not there on Sunday, but the temps were definitely cooler. Hopefully they had a bigger turnout.

I've been up there with pipe bands in that over-100 heat, it's very challenging to keep the pipes working.

You put ice cubes in the bag. No kidding.

For sure pipe band people run into the problem of Glengarries being the most ill-suited headgear for hot sunny weather imaginable. Perhaps more pipe bands will go with the Airy Glengarry. Or ditch Glengarries altogether and wear Tilly hats in competition! (I wonder what the judges would think.)

In any case I'm very sorry to say that I'll miss Pleasanton for maybe the 2nd or 3rd time in 40 years. (They were the Santa Rosa Games, back then, and you stayed at the notorious El Rauncho.)

I find myself band-less at the moment and I decided to attend Long Beach Comic-Con instead. (I'll be indoors, in nice air-conditioning, all weekend.)

Have a great weekend in Pleasanton! I'll be with you, in spirit.

[Richrail]

They let the pipe bands decide to omit headgear. (band's discretion) Also many things were moved off the track into shade or at least partial shade. For example, the clan march circled the main area, but didn't enter the track area. Also, I saw at least one band playing in the grandstand instead of the track area where they usually are.

It was 112F at 3pm on Saturday! Didn't stop me from seeing The Fire, then Albannach!

The buildings with vendors were all air conditioned. So moving around wasn't so bad. Clan tent > music > vendors in the aircon > pipe bands > dancers > Belhaven > vendors.

I was not there on Sunday, but the temps were definitely cooler. Hopefully they had a bigger turnout.

The temps were slightly lower, I think the turn out was slightly lower also. I think the previous days heat people just said the heck with it. Our Japanese exchange student definitely was not used to the heat but she still enjoyed herself. We also enjoyed The Fire and Albannach. My wife did discover the her favorite breakfast is a curry lamb meat pie and a Wee Heavy beer. Our student's favorite thing of the weekend was watching the Heavy Athletics and the Sheep dog competition and The clothing in the living history area.

[California Highlander]

Some pics

The Fire


Albannach

Prince Charles pipes & drums (grade 4 I think)



Clan tent area. This is normally swarming with people, so you can see the effects of the heat on the crowds.


Wildcat tartan and Scottish Wildcat projects represented at the Clan Mackintosh tent. "Touch not the cat bot a glove!"


And our XMarks partner, Celtic Croft.


Outlander's Graham McTavish was there. I heard he was very friendly and gracious with the crowd. I didn't see him as his schedule always overlapped a band or other activity.

Just a few pics. I didn't get any of the dancers or the games, but enjoyed what I saw.

[Richrail]

Thanks for the pictures, I didn't take any.