The clans are surname groups associated with a region of origin in Scotland. Many clans will sponsor a "clan tent," or information booth at the games. A popular topic at the clan tents is genealogy. When you attend a highland games, you should check the genealogy tent and find the clan that you belong to if you, your spouse, or friend has Scottish ancestry.

The bands and clans usually march onto the athletic field at noon to officially open the games, during which time the athletes take their lunch break after the first two or three events. This can be impressive. Three national anthems are usually played: U.S., Canada, and U.K..

Vendors include books, clothing items (kilts, ties, hats, sporrans, etc. in all sorts of tartans), food and drink, and other gifts.

The ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee) is a formal dance held indoors, usually the evening before the games. Patrons, special guests, and other VIPs attend. Some wear formal Scottish attire. You usually need reservations and tickets to go to the Ceilidh.

Animal events usually include two sheep dogs herding a group of four or five sheep around the athletic field. Tricks include separating an individual sheep from the group, and getting the sheep back in the pen. The dogs also herd ducks in similar fashion.

Each games have their own unique combination of events.

Scottish heavy athletics should not be confused with "strongman" competitions, which involve lifting cars, loading kegs, etc; although some strongman competitions are held in conjunction with a heavy athletics competition, and some strongman competitions include highland games events. Scottish heavy athletic events are traditional events involving traditional equipment, whie the strongman events have been mostly invented recently, using modern equipment.

Competition categories: There are two main categories of competition: "professional" and "amateur." The pros are sponsored by the games they enter and/or by the clans they represent and/or any other sponsors they can attract. They compete for prize money. The top American professionals may be invited to compete in Scotland, and around the world.

The amateurs do not receive prize money, although they may receive t-shirts, trophies, medals, free food, beer, and free admission to the games. The amateurs generally travel only to games within reasonable one-day driving distance.

Some games may also have masters (over 40), junior, women's, lightweight, and novice, divisions. Sometimes the amateurs are split into two or more ("A/B/C") competitive units. Some games may have championship and nonchampionship divisions. Women and juniors usually use all lighter implements while the masters and lightweights sometimes substitute a #42 weight for the #56 weight.

General rules: The athletes get three throws total for the throwing events, and they are eliminated from the tossing events after three consecutive misses. The athletes are put in an order of rotation, and each athlete takes one throw at a time in order. The scoring is similar to track & field scoring of horizontal field events. The scoring of the sheaf and #56 toss is similar to the scoring of the track & field vertical jumps (pole vault and high jump).

The placings are determined by the best throw. Ties are broken by the next best throw, etc.. In the sheaf and #56 toss, first place ties are broken by fewer misses. In each event, the athletes get points according to their place. Ties split points; for instance, in a tie for second and third place, both athletes get 2 1/2 points. If an athlete skips or no-heights an event, the athlete gets last place. The lowest total points wins "athlete of the day" (wins the overall competition).

Number and Order of events: varies. Most games in Scotland include five or six events: usually the stone or iron shot put, the light weight throw, one hammer, the caber, and the heavy weight toss, and then sometimes the sheaf toss. The Scottish games usually contest each event separately, and they are scheduled with the light events like a track & field meet. Most games in the U.S. include one hammer, the stone, the heavy and light weight throws, the weight toss, the sheaf, and the caber (usually seven events in one day).

The weights are 28-pound (2-stone) and 56-pound (4-stone). Women's weights are one and two stone (#14 and #28). In most Scottish games, the light weight is thrown and the heavy weight is tossed. That is, a throw is measured by distance, while a toss is measured by height. In the many U.S. games, the heavy weight is also thrown for distance. Masters and lightweights use a three-stone (#42) instead of the #56 for both throwing and tossing.

Origin: original box (rectangular cubic) weights with handles, used for measuring farm produce. Standard weights were half-hundredweight (#56) and two-stone (#28). The #56 weight throw was also an event in the early modern olympics, but it was discontinued in the 1920's. It is still a track & field event, but in Scottish heavy athletics competition, you can only hold the weight with one hand, whereas you can use two hands in track & field.

Athletes get 9 feet behind the trig for the weight throws. They usually do two turns before releasing. The toss is thrown over a horizontal bar, which is raised incrementally. Athletes get three attempts to clear each height. As the bar is raised, athletes who do not clear are eliminated. The process is similar to the high jump or the pole vault in track & field.

The Scottish hammer has a total length not exceeding of 4'2". The weight of the light hammer is 16 pounds, and the heavy hammer weighs 22 pounds. Women: light hammer is #12, heavy hammer is #16.

Origin: a sledge hammer. Later, a dedicated throwing hammer was given a spherical head to lessen damage upon landing. The hammer throw is also a track & field event, but the modern track & field hammer has a D-handle attached to the ball by a wire. The Scottish hammer has a rattan or wooden handle.

The athlete must throw the hammer from behind the trig from a stand (this is different from track & field, where the athlete takes three or four turns). In the Scottish hammer, the athlete swings the hammer around faster and faster, and then releases. Many athletes wear boots with long spikes, which help anchor them to the ground so that they can lean back over the trig to get a longer swing without falling over or being lifted from the ground.

The sheaf is a #16 or #20 bag of hay (#10 or #12 women), that is tossed over a bar with a three-tyned pitchfork. It is conducted like the #56 weight toss, except it goes about twice as high.

Origin: After the haybails dried in the field, they were brought in to the barn on a wagon. Farmers would tie a bunch of hay into sheaves (using twine) then they would toss individual sheaves from the wagon up to the barn loft for winter storage. This is still done in midwest U.S. amish country and in some poor european countries like Poland. This is the pre-mechanized method of hay/straw storage which preceeded the old mechanized recangular bailer, and then the modern cyllindrical bailer.

The caber is basically a log that athletes attempt to flip end-over-end. The caber is judged by the straightness of the turn by the head judge, who follows behind the athlete to get the best view. The event is sometimes referred to as the caber toss, but this is incorrect because the caber is not tossed; it is not heaved over a bar.

There are a lot of myths about how caber tossing originated, but my opinion is that it's just a neat way to propell a log through the air. It's just interesting to have a contest with a log, and see who can flip it over. That's probably how it started, and that's how it is today. I don't see any need to make up a story about how it was used in warfare to scale a castle wall or in logging.

A perfect execution is called a "twelve o-clock turn," where the caber falls straight away from where the athlete released it. The terminology derives from the release point being at the "6" and the caber planting at the center of an imaginary clock face. Then the caber becomes the hour hand upon landing. In a 12-o-clock toss, the caber falls away from the thrower, and the caber forms a straight line through the thrower. Sometimes the caber falls off slightly to the side. This may be a 10-o-clock, or 11:30, etc. Note that in scoring, a 10:00 is equivalent to a 2:00.

If the athlete fails to turn the caber (the caber does not land between 9 and 3 o'clock), the side judge estimates the maximum angle that the caber achieved from vertical (from 0 to 90 degrees).

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