Portmahomack Gala
A week of crab catching, catapult competitions, Highland Games at Ballone Castle, ceilidhs, sandcastle contests and storytelling in this small Easter Ross fishing village on the Dornoch Firth, ending with Gala Day and the crowning of the Gala Queen.
A compact, self-sufficient Easter Ross fishing village that punches well above its size on history - the Category A Pictish church alone justifies the detour off the A9, and the harbour, cafe, pub and sandy beach make the stop entirely comfortable.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Portmahomack, Highland.
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"The northernmost Highland games in Scotland, held near John o' Groats in the lee of the Castle of Mey that the Queen Mother loved, where the Orkney Islands are visible across the Pentland Firth and the wind rarely stops long enough for the caber to fall straight."
Mey Highland Games
"The largest agricultural show in the Scottish Highlands, held at Muir of Ord since 1836, draws farmers from across the region for livestock judging, show jumping and stunt displays."
Black Isle Show
"Held in the colourful harbour town of Portree with the Cuillins rising behind, the Skye games bring together islanders and visitors for a day of heavy athletics and pipe bands in the most spectacular island setting of any Highland games in Scotland."
Isle of Skye Highland Games
"Culag Park at Lochinver holds the most remote Highland games on the Scottish mainland, where the extraordinary quartzite mountains of Assynt rise in every direction and the audience is a mixture of local crofting families and visitors who have driven an hour from the nearest town to get there."
Assynt Highland Games
"Meadows Park in the ancient cathedral town of Dornoch hosts its games on a summer Friday, where the medieval cathedral oversees the pipe bands and the links that rank among the finest golf courses in the world lie just beyond the dunes at the edge of the Dornoch Firth."
Dornoch Highland Games
"Castle Leod, seat of the Earl of Cromartie, hosts the gathering in this beautifully preserved Victorian spa village in the Black Isle hinterland, where the original pump rooms and pavilion pavilion still stand and the games have been a fixture since the Victorian health tourists first came to take the waters."
Strathpeffer Highland Gathering
"A two-day arts, crafts and local produce fayre in the historic East Neuk fishing village of Crail, drawing makers and community together in the Community Hall each late November with free entry and a choir performance."
Crail Christmas Fayre
"One of Scotland's oldest surviving civic traditions, Lanark Lanimers commemorates the riding of the town's marches each June, with a week of events building to Lanimer Day when the decorated horse parade and crowning of the Lanimer Queen fills the Royal Burgh with colour."
Lanark Lanimers
"A long-running Renfrewshire village gala in which a themed parade marches from the Auld Simon pub to the public park for the crowning of a Gala King and Queen, live bands, a dog show, and a silent disco."
Lochwinnoch Gala Day
"The South Lanarkshire fruit-growing town of Carluke marks its annual summer gala with a procession, the crowning of the Queen and a community street party that has gathered the whole town together on the second Saturday of June for generations in one of Scotland's most cheerfully persistent summer traditions."
Carluke Gala Day
"The East Lothian town famous for the 1745 Jacobite victory and its extraordinary tapestry recording the battle holds its annual gala each June, a community day of crowning, games and procession in a town that has turned its industrial and military history into a source of considerable civic pride."
Prestonpans Gala Day
"Over 100 events in 8 days on the Jurassic Coast, with a Wild West theme for 2026, a carnival procession, air display, fireworks finale, Titan the Robot, Granny Turismo shopping trolley dancers and open water swimming, all free and raising £40k for local charities."
Swanage Carnival Week