Greenville Scottish Games

The Upstate region of South Carolina has one of the highest concentrations of Scots-Irish descendents in the United States. As a tribute to this colorful heritage, the Greenville Scottish Games was created to celebrate the sights and sounds of clan life in the Highlands of Scotland. The backdrop for the annual Greenville Scottish Games is the campus of Furman University, which lies at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The annual Games is a weekend long celebration that kicks off with the Great Scot Parade on Main Street in downtown Greenville on Friday, then moves to the Furman campus on Saturday. In this video, viewers attend the kickoff parade downtown and the daylong activities at Furman. Viewers hear from Dee Benedict, President of the Greenville Scottish Games and Highland Festival, who gives a rundown of Scottish Games activities and the national attention the Greenville Games has garnered in just four years. Viewers see the Border Collie Invitation Trials, the Heavy Athletic competitions including the sheaf and caber toss, bagpipe bands, and Wee Scotland, a new feature of the 2009 Greenville Scottish Games. Also in this video, viewers get a glimpse of the Earl of Glasgow, a special guest of the 2009 games, and hear from the favorite son and national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns, who celebrated his 250th birthday at the 2009 Greenville Scottish Games. Furman University again will host the games in 2010 on May 28th and 29th.