TOPSHAM

Where else can you see athletes in kilts throw a tree, learn

Scottish country dancing and then get some haggis?

The caber toss is just one of the many competitions that is returning to this year’s 39th Maine Highland Games and Scottish Festival, which will again be held at the Topsham Fairgrounds on Saturday. The caber is a tree that has been cut and trimmed so that one end is slightly wider than the other. They can weigh up to 180 pounds.

The thrower cups the caber in their hands, stands the caber up with the large end in the air, runs, stops and pulls the caber so the large end hits the ground and the small end flips over. The thrower is judged for accuracy.

The athletic competition also includes the open stone, similar to shot put, and the Braemar Stone Put, which uses an even heavier stone, the sheaf toss and the Heavy Hammer. The first throw of the competition is at 9:30 a.m.

Admission on Saturday is $20 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12, and children 5 and under get in free. Gates open at 8 a.m. and the fun starts at 8:30 a.m. with a duty band concert and a Scottish country dance demonstration at 9:15 a.m. Opening ceremonies start at 10 a.m., followed by the parade of clans at 10:45 a.m.

The Premier Highland Dancing Competition starts at 1 p.m. and there will also be pipe band competitions at 3 p.m.

Fellswater will perform at 11:45 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the concert tent. The Celtic music ensemble plays a wide range of music from traditional to modern compositions drawing from the heritage of all Celtic nations. The Elias Alexander & Band will also be playing and is known for infusing Scottish traditional music with their own compositions and tones of American roots music.

Headliner Charlie Zahm, a popular soloist, will perform and is one of the most successful performers on the Celtic festival circuit. Traditional Celtic harper Sue Richards will perform at 1:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. She will also lead a harpers’ workshop from 10 a.m. to noon.

“We have a lot of fun, good Scottish everything,” said Patti Tillotson, president of the St. Andrews Society of Maine. “It’s a good chance to learn about the Scottish history and culture.”

Re-enactors with the 74th Highland Regiment were setting up the Revolutionary War encampment at the fairgrounds on Thursday afternoon. Member Bill Siebert said he enjoys interacting with the spectators and explaining to them how Scots ended up in Maine.

Fellow re-enactor Donald McDougal said he finds that people like to see their display, such as the spinning, and like to learn what people did and what people ate. British rations for Wednesdays, for example, was a pound of bread, two ounces of butter and two-thirds of a cup of peas — when things were going well. Then they had to march and fight on those rations, McDougal said.

Bill McKeen, past president of the St. Andrews Society of Maine and former chairman of the Maine Highland Games committee, said Maine has the highest percentage of Scottish ancestry in the country, a heritage that over time is being lost.

That is why the St. Andrews Society of Maine, a charitable nonprofit organization, gives educational scholarships to send youth to Nova Scotia where they can learn Gaelic, piping, fiddling and other elements of the culture, he said.

There will also be a table about family history and genealogy, which always draws a lot of people interested in their ancestry.

McKeen has been to other Scottish and Celtic festivals, which are great events, “but what we have here that they don’t have is competition. We hire judges from all over the country” to judge the competitions. “We have nine professional athletes that will be here Saturday.”

The Maine Highland Games draw very talented athletes, dancers and pipers to compete.

He once met a woman at a caber competition who said her husband was the guy throwing the caber, a small man and 100 percent French. She noted, “On Highland Games day, he’s 100 percent Scottish.”

The event kicks off today at 7 p.m. with a ceilidh, or social gathering. There will be a bonfire, fresh bread and camp stew made by historic re-enactors. Donations are welcome.

For information, visit mainehighlandgames.org.

dmoore@timesrecord.com