The Kentucky Scottish Weekend was a regional highland game held annually at General Butler State Resort Park in Carrollton,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The weekend's mission was to celebrate the customs and traditions of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was held each year on the second full weekend in May. First held in 1983, the weekend celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2012, its final year. It was the longest running highland game currently being held in Kentucky at the time it ended. It was held in Carrollton due to that location being nearly halfway between

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. A Kentucky non-profit corporation—Kentucky Scottish Weekend, Inc.—held the event. The weekend was sometimes referred to as "KSW" for short. The weekend was one of three regional highland games in Kentucky. The others are the

Glasgow Highland Games The Glasgow Highland Games are a regional highland games and Scotland, Scottish heritage celebration held annually in and near Glasgow, Kentucky. The main festival grounds are located at Barren River Lake State Resort Park, about from Glasgow, whil ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and the West Kentucky Highland Festival in

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

, founded in 1986 and 1998, respectively. A variety of vendors usually attended the event. Items sold included Scottish and American food items,

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic collectibles,

kilt A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Hi ...

s, Scottish music,

Clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

memorabilia, and Scottish

heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and ...

Events

*Athletic competitions, including: **

Caber tossing The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (/ˈkeɪbər/). It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland, the caber is usually made from a l ...

**Hammer throw - . **Sheaf toss **Stone throw **Weight throw - 28 and . **Weight toss - . *

Bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...

and drumming competitions (the event was recognized by the

Eastern United States Pipe Band Association The Eastern United States Pipe Band Association (EUSPBA) is an association of pipe bands in the Eastern United States. Its function is to sanction band and solo piping, drumming, and drum major competitions in the East Coast. It is also respons ...

) **Several regional pipe bands regularly competed at the weekend, including Cincinnati Caledonian Pipes and Drums and the Louisville Pipe Band *Bonniest knees contest (where men competed for the "best" set of knees; judged by females and through touch alone) *

Border Collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Angl ...

demonstrations *British car show * Ceilidh on Saturday night *Clan booths *Kirking of the Tartan (non-denominational church service) on Sunday morning *Opening ceremony with massed bands *Parade of Tartans *

Pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

concerts *

Scottish folk music Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland duri ...

concerts *

Scottish highland dancing Highland dance or Highland dancing ( gd, dannsa Gàidhealach) is a style of competitive dancing developed in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in the context of competitions at public events such as the Highland games. It ...

competitions and demonstrations * Wellie toss contest (where women competed to see who can throw a boot the farthest)

Entertainers

Alex Beaton Alex Beaton (July 15, 1944 – May 27, 2022) was a Scottish folk singer and guitarist who performed across the United States and in Canada and hosted tours to Scotland. Beaton established folk singers as a regular feature at highland games in ...

had been the featured performer and emcee at the Kentucky Scottish Weekend since 1989. In later years, other performers included Seven Nations, the Glengarry Bhoys, and

Wicked Tinkers The Wicked Tinkers are an United States, American Celtic music group who perform at many Scottish/Irish festivals. History The group was formed in the early 1990's when piper Aaron Shaw met bass drum player Warren Casey and percussionist John Mac ...

Dissolution

KSW was dissolved and the remaining funds disbursed to The Scottish Society of Louisville.

References

External links

Kentucky Scottish Weekend website

Glasgow Highland Games websiteWest Kentucky Highland Festival website
{{Scotland topics Highland games Festivals in Kentucky Tourist attractions in Carroll County, Kentucky Cultural festivals in the United States Scottish-American culture Scottish-American culture in Kentucky Multi-sport events in the United States 1983 establishments in Kentucky 2012 disestablishments in Kentucky Recurring sporting events established in 1983 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2012 Sports festivals in the United States