Formed in 1867, Aboyne Highland Games is regarded as The Traditional Highland Games. Taking place annually on the first Saturday of August, in the heart of Royal Deeside, the event attracts thousands of visitors each year.
Competitions at the Games include dancing, piping, fiddle, Tug o’War, Hill Race and full range of heavy and light Highland Games activities.
The sports still show their links with the past, in the competitions for dancing and bagpipe music, in the granite balls which are used for putting the stone, and in the wooden shafts of the hammer which replace the flexible steel handles, though the conventional head of the blacksmith’s long-handled hammer has been replaced by a metal ball.
A great deal of ceremonial and colourful pageantry always accompanied clan proceedings, and at the Games is proud to keep the traditional alive.
More information about Aboyne Highland Games and its history is available here.