Highland games, Scottish fest wraps up in Moncton

The 17th annual Greater Moncton Highland Games and Scottish Festival wrapped up on Saturday at the Hal Betts Sportsplex.

Event manager Jenna Morton said the event is four competitions and a festival rolled into one that celebrates Scottish and Gaelic culture.

“We have pipe bands competing as well as individuals, piping and drumming. We have the heavy events, the feats of strength that people are used to seeing, the caber tossed into the sky. We have over 100 highland dancers competing in various age groups,” said Morton.

Morton said the games and festival are much more than just bagpipes and haggis.

“It's very much about sharing the culture with everyone and not just between different cultures, but between age groups,” she said. “I think it's really important in our culture, in general today, to cultivate these moments where you can show what it means to have a sheep, shear it, turn it into clothing and then wear that clothing with pride.”

There were even blacksmiths on hand Saturday.

David Bell was demonstrating techniques he uses in his business.

“What we do here is traditional foraging, we make a lot of different items,” said David Bell. “What we use is a coal forge, an anvil, a hammer and all kinds of tools like tongs, punches and drifts, which are a lot of the traditional tools used for thousands of years.”

The festival wrapped up with a closing ceremony and live music.