Highland Games - Braemar gathering 2025
6 September 2025
The Braemar Highland Games take place every first Saturday in September in Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park in the Scottish municipality of the same name. This tradition is traced back to the days of the famous Scottish king Malcolm Canmore. What once began as competitions between Scottish Highland fighters has taken on a more sporting and festive character over the last 200 years.
Traditionally, the Braemar Highland Society hosts the event, which attracts numerous tourists in addition to members of the royal household. In fact, since 1848 Braemar Gathering has been regularly honoured with a visit by the Queen and now the King, as well as members of the royal family. There are many Highland Games held in Scottland but the Braemar Highland Games is amongst the oldest.
Where is Braemar located?
Well, Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire. Besides the Highland Games, Braemar Castle is a tourist attraction.
What are the activities offered by the Highland Games Braemar Gathering
Before we list some of the games of Highland Games let us mention that it is claimed that Highland Games were an inspiration for Baron Pierre de Coubertin when he was planning the revival of the Olympic Games.
The highlights of the event include stone and athletics, mostly heavy athletics, and dances. What differentiates the games is the Scottish traditions and sports with heavy weights. Spectators are left breathless when they see a burly Scotsman hurl log meters through the air.
Even though these are sporting competitions, ambition is not neglected. This is especially true of the tug-of-war. The men and women on both sides stick their legs into the mud to pull the other party to their side. In addition, the many pipe bands play and ignite passion in their own way.
Competitions between Scottish Highland clans
The Braemar Gathering starts at 9 am and ends around 5 pm. All competitions will be held according to the fixed rules. Besides the sporting competitions, culture will also find its place. There are competitions of different pipe bands as well as the Solo Pipe, the solo bagpipe playing competition.
The Highland Dancing is particularly illustrative. This is one of the oldest dance forms. For Highland Dancing at the Braemar Gathering, over 100 dancers from the UK and around the world enter to compete for the prestigious silver medal.
The clan culture is very important during the highland games. The competition between clans makes competition more interesting. Clan members develop strong bonds.
Learn more about the Highland Games - Braemar gathering
Here are the steps to plan your trip
1. Go to the official website and double check the event dates, prices and regulations.
2. Book hotel rooms in Braemar available during the event. ⤵︎
2.1. Pick a hotel room by location and by price.
2.2. The search is done for 1 guest and the entire duration of the event. Click on the 'Filter', 'Guests', and 'Dates' buttons to adjust the search.
🏨 In the 'Filters' section, you can tell if you are looking for hotels or vacation homes. Here, you can filter the results by stars, review ratings, and budget.
👨👩👧👦 In this section, you can specify the number of guests (adults and children) and the number of rooms you want to book.
📆 Finally, you can change the date of your stay.
2.3. Save more money! Some hotel rooms are provided by multiple hotel booking websites. You will see them on the top of the hotel room details when you hover the mouse over the room. Be it Booking.com, Expedia, Trivago, Opodo, or other providers, select the best price provider for the room during the chosen period.
2.4. If hotel rooms are not available around the event location, you can zoom out or search by a nearby city/town name. If you have a specific hotel in mind, you can even search the particular hotel name.
2.5. Bonus tip: Switch to Experiences search. Perhaps you will find great tours and activities!
2.6. Pro tip: The map of the experiences may help you find the most vibrant areas in the city and the best locations where you can look for accommodations for your stay.
3. If everything is fine you can buy all the tickets
