The B.C. Highland Games are the longest running Highland Games

Highland games

Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...

 in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The games are run by the B.C. Highland Games Committee under the auspices of the United Scottish Cultural Society, out of the Scottish Cultural Centre in Vancouver. Since the early 1990s, the games have been held on the last Saturday of every June at Percy Perry Stadium

Percy Perry Stadium

Percy Perry Stadium is a multi-purpose, fully lit stadium in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was built for the 1991 B.C. Summer Games, as part of the district's 100th anniversary, and has featured events with crowds of over 4,000 spectators...

 in Coquitlam

Coquitlam, British Columbia

Coquitlam is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Coquitlam is mainly a suburban city, and is one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. According to the 2007 Canadian Census, it is the 5th-largest city in British Columbia...

, while 2009 marked the 78th annual games.

Events include:

• Solo Piping
  Bagpipes
  Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
  
  
• Solo Drumming
• Pipe Bands
• Highland Dancing
  Scottish highland dance
  The term Highland dance or Highland dancing is used today to refer to a style of athletic solo dancing which developed in the Gaelic Highlands of Scotland...
  
  
• Shortbread
  Shortbread
  Shortbread is a type of unleavened biscuit which is traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts oatmeal flour. The use of plain white flour is common today, and other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture...
  
   Competition
• Heavy Events, which include:
  • Stone put
    Stone put
    The stone put is one of the main Scottish heavy athletic events at modern-day Highland games gatherings. Similar to the shot put, the stone put more frequently uses an ordinary stone or rock instead of a steel ball...
    
    
  • Weight throw
    Weight throw
    The weight throw is a track and field event that is held at Scottish Highland games and occasionally at indoor track meets.In the Highland Games, the weight throw consists of two separate events, the light weight and the heavy weight. In both cases, the implement consists of a steel or lead weight ...
    
    
  • Scottish hammer throw
  • Weight over the bar
    Weight over the bar
    The Weight Over the Bar competition is a test of strength featured at Scottish Highland games. The weight is a steel or lead weight attached to a metal circular handle. The weight is thrown one-handed over a bar set at increasing heights above the thrower. The thrower has three attempts for each...
    
    
  • Sheaf toss
    Sheaf toss
    The sheaf toss is a traditional Scottish agricultural sport event originally contested at country fairs. A pitchfork is used to hurl a burlap bag stuffed with straw over a horizontal bar above the competitor's head. Typical weight for the bag is 16 pounds . Three chances are given to each...
    
    
  • Caber toss
    Caber toss
    The caber toss is a traditional Irish athletic event practised at the Irish Highland Games involving the tossing of a large wooden pole called a caber. It is said to have developed from the need to toss logs across narrow chasms to cross them. In Irishtown the caber is usually made from a Larch tree...
    
    
  • Farmers walk
• Piobaireachd
  Piobaireachd
  Pibroch, Piobaireachd or Ceòl Mór is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations...
  
  competition