{"id":8249,"date":"2026-03-20T17:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/20\/highland-games-celtic-festival-set-for-march-26-29\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:20:23","slug":"highland-games-celtic-festival-set-for-march-26-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/20\/highland-games-celtic-festival-set-for-march-26-29\/","title":{"rendered":"Highland Games &#038; Celtic Festival Set for March 26\u201329"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"157\" data-end=\"369\">Celebrate Celtic heritage in the Midlands with four days of cultural pride, athletic competition, music, and family-friendly fun at the 14th Annual <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Tartan Day South Highland Games &amp; Celtic Festival<\/span><\/span>, taking place March 26&ndash;29.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"371\" data-end=\"614\">The festival&rsquo;s centerpiece event will be held March 28 at <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Historic Columbia Speedway<\/span><\/span>, where traditional Highland games come alive alongside massed pipe bands, folk dancing, cultural exhibits, and interactive activities for all ages.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"616\" data-end=\"648\"><strong data-start=\"616\" data-end=\"648\">Festival highlights include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"649\" data-end=\"1049\">\n<li data-section-id=\"nsdh4p\" data-start=\"649\" data-end=\"715\">\n<p data-start=\"651\" data-end=\"715\">Highland athletics featuring traditional Scottish competitions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"ie2dxc\" data-start=\"716\" data-end=\"791\">\n<p data-start=\"718\" data-end=\"791\">Live Celtic music, including pipe-and-drum bands and dance performances<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1797yo\" data-start=\"792\" data-end=\"870\">\n<p data-start=\"794\" data-end=\"870\">A cultural marketplace with authentic food, crafts, and clan presentations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1rre0k7\" data-start=\"871\" data-end=\"944\">\n<p data-start=\"873\" data-end=\"944\">Demonstrations such as sheepdog herding and birds of prey exhibitions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"8mv5v9\" data-start=\"945\" data-end=\"979\">\n<p data-start=\"947\" data-end=\"979\">A classic British car showcase<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1o30bmz\" data-start=\"980\" data-end=\"1049\">\n<p data-start=\"982\" data-end=\"1049\">Croquet exhibitions offering a hands-on heritage sport experience<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1051\" data-end=\"1420\">Events throughout the four-day celebration also include kickoff gatherings, concerts, and a ceremonial Kirkin&rsquo; of the Tartans worship service. Additional programming will take place at venues across <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Cayce<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">West Columbia<\/span><\/span>, and <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Lexington<\/span><\/span>, extending the festival&rsquo;s reach across the region.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1422\" data-end=\"1650\">Tartan Day South celebrates Celtic traditions&mdash;including Scottish, Irish, and English heritage&mdash;while supporting <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">The River Alliance<\/span><\/span>, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting access to the area&rsquo;s rivers.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1652\" data-end=\"1730\">For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: <a class=\"decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/tartandaysouth.com\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1704\" data-end=\"1730\">https:\/\/tartandaysouth.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebrate Celtic heritage in the Midlands with four days of cultural pride, athletic competition, music, and family-friendly fun at the 14th Annual Tartan Day South Highland Games &amp; Celtic Festival, taking place March 26&ndash;29. The festival&rsquo;s centerpiece event will be held March 28 at Historic Columbia Speedway, where traditional Highland<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/20\/highland-games-celtic-festival-set-for-march-26-29\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32],"tags":[1266,745],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-8249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-events","tag-celtic-games","tag-tartan-day-south"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TartanDaySouth_2026_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}