The Celtic Festival in Buffalo, Missouri

The Southwestern Missouri Celtic Heritage Festival & Highland Games has been held in early September in Buffalo, Missouri, since 2002. Vendors, competitors, tradesmen and spectators alike gather at the Old City Park and Fair Grounds each year for a wide range of Scottish-inspired food, games, activities and shows.

General Entertainment

The festivities begin with a free parade in which the Honored Clan Davidson will ceremoniously call the clans forth to the fairgrounds. During the course of the long weekend, spectators can expect to see several types of animals including Clydsedale horses, cattle, sheep, duck, various birds of prey and Irish wolfhounds. In addition, several vendors demonstrate various aspects of Celtic lives such as sheep herding, lye soap making, sword shows and chess competitions.

Children's Activities

This festival includes entertainments for kids of all ages. Kids can participate in scaled-down versions of the Scottish games for a range of prices. Game events for kids include the Frisbee toss, beanbag throw and hula-hoop toss. Kids can also head to the archery booth and shoot kid-safe arrows for a small fee, or to the crafts tables to make Celtic necklaces, bookmarks and crests.

Scottish Games

Competitors can register to contend any of several events in the Highland Games. Tossing the Caber is a heavy event where competitors must rest a caber tree trunk against the shoulder, lift if off the ground, run forward and toss the trunk for accuracy. Each trunk weighs approximately 125 to 150 lbs. The Weight for Distance & Height event is where competitors handle a ball and chain weighing either 28 or 56 lbs. The thrower swings the weight to the side and around him and heaves the weight as far as he can. Competitors of the Stone Put event handle a weight of 18 lbs., run up to 7 feet, 6 inches and heave the stone as far as they can. The Throwing the Hammer event asks competitors to handle a 50-inch-long hammer. The thrower must swing the hammer around the head three to five times and then let go to see how far the hammer travels. The Sheaf involves throwing a 16-lb. sheaf of hay over a bar without knocking it down. The bar is sometimes set at heights of 20 feet.

Rates

As of 2011, persons 12 years to 50 years old can buy advance tickets for $5 and gate tickets for $7. Seniors, or persons over 50 years of age, and juniors -- persons under 12 years of age -- can get into the park for $3 with an advance ticket of $5 at the gate. A family pass is $15, and children under the age of 6 are admitted for free.