Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games

I’m a bit confused with this festival. Everything is so spread out across Maverick’s Stadium, I didn’t even know what the current games were! It basically seemed like a bunch of people in kilts aimlessly walking around with their dogs. If the festival picked a smaller venue then I think it would have been more organized.
There are a few kilt, jewelry, and craft booths to take a look at. There was a weaponry one, but did not offer anything more than like the Knife Shoppe in the mall could get you. There was a huge section of Scottish clan booths you could go check out and join I suppose. Near the top of the stadium by the restrooms there was a booth of tartans that this group actually hand makes for you. They have a book of tartans you can look up by last name which was very useful! Pat Baby got to finally see his tartan so he was very excited!
There are two big stages with musical acts you could go to and get out from the hot sun. You could get some $ 5 beer and just hang out while listening to Scottish music. The food was so disappointing! Brat Haus was of course there, Heritage Meat Pies, McAlister’s tea, and a few booths with Scottish sausages and haggis. I feel like people need to do more research and get some actual Scottish cuisine going on here. It’s not like I’m Scottish but I can sense wannabes when I see them!
I was surprised how few number of people attended the festival. It doesn’t appear to be a very popular one. After all, it is in Arlington. I probably should have gotten the hint and not expected something that would amount to other popular festivals in Dallas. If I ever go again, it will merely be out of principle for Pat Baby’s sake.

This was our first visit to the Texas Scottish Festival, and it was great! I’ll be frank upfront and say that our main draw was one of the bands (Jiggernaut; one of my friends is in the band and they’re awesome, check ‘em out!), but we were pleasantly surprised at all there was on offer, even though we only attended on Sunday afternoon. The food choices had dwindled a bit (no Scottish eggs, I had a sad), but what was left was pretty good from our samplings, although perhaps not strictly Scottish fare (jambalaya, anyone?). I’m not a huge beer drinker, but there were plenty of brews available and and a number of locations.
As for the non-​food, non-​band offerings: There was a huge marketplace spread throughout the grounds, selling everything from period correct clothing, jewelry and other items, plus lots of family shields/​coats-​of-​arms etc. Many of the vendors were dressed in period clothing as well, lending a good feel to the whole event.
If there was a knock at all, it was that some of the cable protectors placed across walkways were too tall for my wife’s handicap cart; they need to consider some ramps on top of these in the future. Other than that, keep up the great work!

Thank God they moved the festival to early May. It’s cooler. The old June time was miserable. It is held at the UTA athletic field, so no shade.
Tips:
–Parking may or may not be free (due to UTA lot). There is not a lot, so come early.
–Walking about is easy, due to plenty of paved areas
–Bands, bagpipes, beer and athletes thowing heavy objects. Kind of cool.
–Need a highland gift or off the shelf kilt or jacket? Plenty here.
–It’s not huge. A casual walk only takes an hour.
–Google the location or get a GPS. It’s kind of hidden and God forbid they hang a sign somewhere. (It’s at UTA Maverick Stadium)

We attended the TSF&HG this year and were really disappointed. My in-​laws (who are from Scotland) timed their visit from Australia (where they live now) so that we could all attend (we drove up from Austin). Their website was full of a bunch of bollocks about 50−60k people attending every year. Even if they were padding the numbers, they wouldn’t have been able to claim more than 10−12k this year.
Maybe this was because there was no way in hell anyone who wasn’t LOOKING FOR the festival would have had any way of finding it. Even though we knew where we were going, it took us five minutes of driving through small UTA parking lots before we saw a St. Andrew’s Cross and made our way toward it. There was no advertising, and not even a sign or banner until you were actually AT the festival.
Everything was poorly laid out, and poorly timed. It was swelteringly hot (they DO know we’re in Texas, not Scotland, right?!), and I don’t know if they were expecting a magical influx of people, but it was WAY too spread out. You had to walk across the football field to get from one end of the festival to the other, and there really wasn’t much of anything in between.
There were some authentic Scottish and Irish products for sale, but there were just as many head-​shop type booths, cheap carnival games and, get this, a RE-​BATH booth trying to get people to sign-​up for remodels. WTF?! Also, the Scottish foods on offer were outnumbered by trucks selling greasy, under-​cooked, carnival food.
However, this was the real kicker — even with just 3k people in attendance on any given day — the parking lot was grossly undersized. I can’t imagine what they were going to do when the other 47−57k people showed up!
They also told us that no dogs other than Scottish breeds were going to be allowed into the park, and that this would be strictly enforced, so we left our dogs at home for three days (obviously with someone to look in on them and feed them). No one controlled what animals were brought in, and there were heaps of dogs that were not of Scottish origin roaming around. Don’t get me wrong — I love dogs and wanted to bring my own — but either let dogs in or don’t. Don’t prattle on about rules and fines when the same people were bringing in the same dogs each day.
In my opinion, this festival was poorly organized. Whoever is in charge of it needs to pass the baton to someone else. We all wasted the only long weekend we had with our in-​laws at a festival that made big promises and delivered blisteringly hot mediocrity.

A nice little festival that needs LOTS MORE ADVERTISING!
It’s moving to May next year, so that should solve my major complaint… the heat. June is the wrong time of year to hold an outdoor event like this as its just to bloody hot. Attendance has been dwindling because of it.
Still, lots of men in kilts, and more importantly, women in mini kilts!

Went last nite around 9PM as the festivities were winding down but that doesn’t mean it was a bore.
Lots of good beer… Belhaven was the brew of choice. Also being served were traditional Scottish dishes like haggis, scotch eggs, stews, fish and chips.
Caught a little bit of the sports action too. A bunch of guys trying to throw a large weight over a raised bar. Was actually pretty interesting. Music was cool as they had two different tents… one with acoustic instruments and the other with electric.
Would like to try this again next year and go during the day.

Dangit’ Nickie G! –you scooped me again!
I’ve been going to the North Texas Scottish Festival for a while now and, being Scottish on both sides, it still is one of the most fun things to do, for me!
There’s not too much more to be said than what Nickie wrote… which is all that I was *about* to write! Ha!
If you’re used to Scarborough Faire, this is not the same. You still get some of the fantasy dress characters, but not *nearly* as much. It really is an immersion in all things Scottish, from Clan tents to learn more about family roots, to bagpipe bands, scotch tastings, ale, haggis, highland games, highland dance competition etc…
It’s a great time. And usually hot. very hot. Make sure you have some water for every couple of beers you have.
I competed in the highland games a couple of years ago, and am going to try to do it next June – hope to see you all there!
and great review Nickie!
PS: After our day at the festival and Lainey and I got home, I proposed to her in my KILT! Yeah! Better yet she said yes…

The Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games goes on every year out in Arlington at the UT Arlington Maverick stadium. I had no idea UTA even had a football team, let alone a stadium, but they do!
This festival is pretty off the radar — not sure if it is because of the location or the fact that I barely see advertisements for it. However, it has been well attended both times I have been. When there, here are the things you can look forward to:
–Men in kilts! Some of them wearing nothing underneath like real Scottish guys. Chances you want to see proof of this are pretty much zero, but still.
–Highland Games — they throw tree trunks, hammers, anvils, and anything else large and heavy they can get their hands on (yep, TWSS)
–Bands! This year both the Killdares and the Scottish Rogues played, along with a bunch of other bands. They have a whole schedule on their website so look up your favorites and go see them.
–Shopping! You want a ye olde time wench outfit? They have them. You looking for a kilt made of your family tartan? They have them. You want to buy a can of haggis to make for future dinners? They have it. Celtic jewelry, smartass T shirts that say things like «kilt inspector», swords, etc.
–Food! Caledonean kitchen has a stand there where you can buy the aforementioned cans of haggis, irish stew, etc. They usually have it cooked up so people can have a sample… so that they can «rid the world of haggis virgins one spoonful at a time». I do not think this is an OFFICIAL company slogan but that is what the guy told us when the BF had a bite hehe You can buy haggis at concession stands as well, so try it and stop being a wuss! (Haggis is traditionally made of sheeps heart, liver, and lungs, mixed up with stock, oatmeal, spices, and cooked in the sheep’s stomach. This is beef or lamb haggis and is most likely the heart and liver meat but not lung. Don’t think of it, just eat it, it is good.) They also have fried twinkies, burgers and fries, and soft serve ice cream!
–Heat! Ok, don’t look forward to this, but it always seems that it is hotter than the center of Hell when I go to this. This year there was a nice breeze blowing but you can’t feel it when you are in the music tent all cozy sitting beside a hundred of your fellow Scottish music fans. Wear as light and/​or as little as possible and be sure to have a cold beverage in hand at all times to help you out with this.
–Saving the best for last… BOOZE! Scottish Ales on tap! Whisky tastings! You can definitely get your drink on here! Then let one of the «kilt inspectors» see what ya working with underneath your kilt!
They also have classes where you can learn to do traditional dance, kiddie section for the kiddos to have fun (I saw a good ol’ sack race going on!”, and lots of other things to check out!
Overall a good festival, especially if you are of Scottish heritage like I am. You can waste away an afternoon or evening checking out all the stuff they have while drinking tasty beer. What’s not to love?