The Victoria Highland Games are back for their 161st edition and there are plenty of ways to immerse yourself in Scottish culture at Topaz Park this weekend.

It’s the longest continuously running Celtic games festival in North America—the games were still held during the first and second world wars and even during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its outdoor setting. It was relocated from its usual Topaz Park home during 2020 and 2021, but it’s back at Topaz this year with plenty of bagpipes, dancing, and whisky to be enjoyed.

The games began in 1863, organized by newly arrived settlers working for the Hudson’s Bay Co.

“At the time, there was a large contingent of Scottish settlers at Fort Victoria,” said Jim Maxwell, Victoria Highland Games Association president. “Scottish settlers were all over the world and they brought their traditions with them.”

Those traditions included games that had been played in Scotland for hundreds of years, he said.

The Highland Games would have only seen a couple thousand people attending in its early years in Fort Victoria, but they’ve certainly grown over the last century and a half. This year, Maxwell anticipates roughly 20K attendees—and if the weather’s nice, that number could be higher. However, he says “hardcore people” will come rain or shine.

Those 20K+ people will be able to see a mix of international and local performers and athletes. They’ll see world champions in field events such as hammer throwing and caber tossing. Maxwell told Capital Daily that he hopes to see some world records broken, though the Victoria games have set a high bar in previous years.

Drum bands from across the country will compete at the Canadian Invitational Drum Master Championships and 14 pipe bands from the US and Canada—including Simon Fraser University’s six-time world champion pipe band—will go head to head. 

There will also be a special Saturday evening performance called “Fortissimo”—a music term for very loud—where military pipe bands play, well, loudly. 

Children will be admitted for free and there’s also a free family entertainment tent. For adults, tickets start at $17 with two-day passes for $33. For an extra fee, organizers offer whisky and wine-tasting classes.