Fernweh, An Ache for Distant Places

Every year since 1956, the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games have been held in MacRae Meadows of Grandfather Mountain State Park, drawing more than 30,000 people from around the globe to experience a wee bit of Scotland in western North Carolina.

The festival began as a way to celebrate the abundant Scottish ancestry and heritage in the region, and to serve as a gathering place for each family clan to reunite and meet more of their kin.

Various sources tell the story of displaced clans of Scotland searching for a new home after the 1746 Battle of Culloden, and officials in North Carolina sent out a call to beckon them across the sea.

Newly immigrated Scots were once again free to live according to their own values and wear their traditional Highlands attire that had been banned back home.

It makes perfect sense that things eventually turned into a really big party.

It is widely believed that the Appalachian, Scottish, and Irish mountains were once all part of the same range known as the Central Pangaean Mountains before the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea split and the nations drifted apart.

If you have been to both Scotland and western North Carolina, you might be hard pressed to tell them apart in some places.

Each respective landscape is so similar with green rolling hills and deep valleys, gushing waterfalls, and streams.

Entering the festival gates at Grandfather Mountain makes my heart beat a little faster, rivaled only by the sound of the bagpipes and drummers marching into a field or open arena.

My favourite part about the Highland Games is the music.

This is no exaggeration either, because I kinda just joined my local Scottish pipes and drums band last week.

Pray for me.

Pray for them.

The Parade of Tartans began in 1975 and features more than 100 pre-registered clans with members all showing off their tartans.

You can catch live performances throughout the day, but the most comical show just might be watching bagpipers stand outside of porta-potties, blasting out a funny tune or sound clip as unsuspecting, red-faced toilet patrons make their exits.

The four-day festival is full of more formal band performances, individual instrument competitions, and accompanied Highland dance competitions.

This particular year (2025), we were even more excited by the presence of Scotland’s own Coinneach MacLeod, known internationally as the Hebridean Baker.

We met him, happenstance, long before his meet and greet event that evening. We tried to wish him a proper welcome, and definitely loaded up on several flavours of his famous shortbreads and oaties.

Coinneach is one of the loveliest people you could ever meet. His stories are as entertaining as his recipes are delicious, and he is the type of human that just makes you swoon.

We bought up his newest cookbook, shared a dram of whiskey, and sang an old Scottish ceilig tune while others sang and danced.

This weekend was a celebration and tour for his new Scottish Cookbook.

One more thing I love and look forward to at the Highland Games, or any local Scottish event, is the promise of a Scotch egg.

Take a boiled egg, surround it with sausage, deep fry it, and drizzle on a bit of brown sauce.

I do not really enjoy fried foods so it would not be my first choice of a meal, but it is a rare and tantalizing delicacy.

We picked up some gingerbread, chocolate sticky toffee pudding, and other treats from various vendors.

For many people, the athletic field sports and races are the main events.

It really is something to watch all these beefy, muscular, and often tall men and women tossing cabers and completing other feats of strength when the rest of us can hardly be bothered to walk through this heat.

The festival also includes a “Raise the Clan” Torch Light Ceremony and a Kirkin church service for those who wish to attend.

You can visit the Scottish Cultural Village, the Ceilig tent, and other activity tents including one for children and others for whiskey tasting.

After watching the Sheep Dog Herding competitions, we were able to meet the small herd of shorn and adorable participants inside their enclosure.

There is always a row or holler of clan tents where each family proudly has their heritage and history on display, ready to share fun facts with others. This is also how people from all over the world make new friends with distant relatives.

I always look for my own Scottish ancestral surnames each time I attend a Highland Games event, but have still not met my new cousin-bestie.

My only complaint will just be mentioned so that you can plan ahead for it in the future: bring a poncho or rain jacket, even if the weather looks nice!

An unholy storm started beating down over the festival grounds about halfway into our visit, which no one has any control over. There were no shelters nearby, for it to be a State Park, though. The buses transporting people back to parking spaces a few miles away were extremely slow to let attendees onboard or get them to safety in a timely manner.

We did not know what to do because we could see the long lines from the other side of the field, and most of the vendors who had large tents had zipped them up to keep people out, so we just kind of stood there and took it.

Huge shout out to the Forbes / Fordyce clan who very graciously allowed us and a few other drenched souls relocate inside their tent for about 15-20 minutes while the rest of the storm blew over.

We are also very thankful for our copy of your beautiful new book, Black Sleeve!

Campsites around the festival have some amusing décor. You walk through the campsites once you arrive at the festival to get to the entrance gates, so many campers on the main row have a sense of pride about their displays.

There are so many creative and silly people, and quite a few impressive designs.

Festival guests are all very considerate and always willing to help with whatever you may need.

In the area for a while? Follow me up Grandfather Mountain and then to some other amazing places in western North Carolina like Cherokee, Asheville, Brevard, Hot Springs, Marshall, Black Mountain, Weaverville, Cataloochee Valley, Waynesville, Boone, Blowing Rock, Saluda, Tryon, Hendersonville, Sylva, and Bryson City.

*************
© Fernwehtun, 2015- Current. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Fernwehtun and Fernwehtun.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.