Scottish Games pack star power and Pleasanton fairgrounds
PLEASANTON >> The 153rd Scottish Highland Gathering and Games has everything you could hope for from a literal reading of the event name for the two-day cultural and athletic festival.
Flying telephone poles and hammers? Yup. The steady harmony of bagpipes? You got it. Mountains? Check.
Actually, make that Mountain, singular.
The Alameda County Fairgrounds hosts the event through Sunday, and by the end of the weekend, it is expected to draw upward of 50,000 spectators and participants from around the world.
For Hayward resident Jeni Fernando, the games top her list of festivals in the Bay Area, a region known for housing a healthy number of the shindigs. She admits, though, that the deck is somewhat stacked.
“I have a thing for kilts,” Fernando said. “This is just different from all the other fairs.”
Her companion, Joyce Quinn, said she gravitates toward the athletic competitions, which consist primarily of throwing heavy objects as far or as high as they can muster.
“I want to see the games, and I love bagpipes,” Quinn said.
Indeed, entire portions of the expansive grounds are dedicated to competitions that draw athletes from locales near and far, spanning San Jose and the East Coast, and extending to Scotland and the Czech Republic.
Dorothy McHugh, a Pittsburgh resident — the one in Pennsylvania, not by the Delta — flew in to join her daughter Kathy Peterson, who herself traveled from Reno to attend the festivities.
The bar was set pretty high
for McHugh when she waited in a line of more than 100 people to get a picture taken with Hafthor Bjornsson, famed for his TV role as Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane in the HBO juggernaut “Game of Thrones.” Bjornsson swiftly picked her up like a bag of flour. A small one.
“I just can’t believe he’s so big,” McHugh said of Bjornsson, who stands 6-foot-9 and hovers around 400 pounds. “I’ve never even watched the show! And this is my first time here!”
Bjornsson, who appeared at the local games three years ago, said he enjoyed the energy and atmosphere, and camaraderie with people, adding that as someone of Icelandic
descent, he sees familiar cultural touchstones and customs.
“I love the Highland Games,” he said. “And this weather — coming from Iceland — is perfect for me.”
But Bjornsson isn’t just there for autographs and handshakes. Sunday, he is participating in the weight-for-height competition against professional athletes, hoping to beat his personal records. This is the one involving throwing a heavy weight really, really high.
“I am very strong at this moment,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m feeling very good for (Sunday).”
Also bringing the star power to the weekend is Gary Lewis, a Scottish actor known for portraying
Colum MacKenzie, clan chieftain in the Starz series “Outlander.”
For Rob Tysinger, chief of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco, which has put on the games without fail since 1866 when it was a picnic with some competitive flair in downtown San Francisco, the invitation of Lewis was a no-brainer in the organization’s quest to continue to innovate and broaden the event’s appeal.
“With Outlander being a phenomenon, it gives more people a chance to see what we do,” he said.
Tysinger touts the heavy athletics and the span of its pipe bands — 35 this year — that stand as the largest such competition outside
Scotland, but also takes pride in drawing heavy interest from outside the culture. He noted that there’s the Highland and country dancing and myriad culinary offerings, which might be topped by the meatpie station, with a steady line of 100 people for much of Saturday.
“There’s something for everybody,” he said.
He also noted the “living history” section of the festival, in which reenactors clad in vintage garb, and sometimes armor and chain mail, revive the 16th-century era typified by Mary, Queen of Scots. Livermore resident Tina DeLise, a seasoned visitor who was returning for the first time in six years, saw the festival as a way to reconnect with her fellow re-enactors. It’s also a family tradition that she shared with her daughter Ayla for years.
The games continue through Sunday at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. For more information, go to TheScottishGames. com.