2024 Alaska Scottish Highland Games offers fun for all

The 2024 Alaska Scottish Highland Games drew a large amount of participation and attendance with several notable milestones.

“It was an amazing year,” Alaskan Scottish Club Executive Director, Jeni McDaniel said.

According to McDaniel, they had one of the largest attendee turnouts to date. She said they had a record number of athletic participants across all events.

“It was magical,” McDaniel said.

The Alaska Scottish Highland Games had the unique opportunity to host the 2024 Women's World Championships. McDaniel said they've wanted to do this for a long time and she's thrilled they could finally see it unfold at the Palmer Fairgrounds.

“It was an absolute honor and privilege… The fact that it happened this year was a dream come true,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said that over 150 vendors participated in the Celtic Marketplace. She said that participating vendors are encouraged to incorporate elements of Scottish culture into their booths and so many of them did so with gusto this year.

“We saw some really fun Scottish flair this year," McDaniel said.

Alaskan members of the Historical European Martial Arts put on a variety of time period themed events and activities such as putting on battles between armored knights and taking photos with attendees with medieval themed props. HEMA member Mark Foldenauer said their area feels right at home with the Highland Games.

“I think it's a great match honestly,” Foldenauer said.

Stephanie Shargel enjoyed watching her daughter Selah participate in the youth Highland Games athletic activities where participating children are split into groups and led by experienced instructors.

“It's amazing that they do this. It's her favorite part of it," Shargel said.

Shargel said that she appreciates the family friendly atmosphere and the sheer variety of activities that Highland Games attendees can enjoy.

“It's for every single age. I would easily say for senior citizens down to little kids, there's something for everybody,” Shargel said.

McDaniel said there’s numerous new and familiar athletic and non athletic events and activities for visitors to enjoy each year at the Highland Games. She said they had a fair number of youth participants in the new Beards, Braids, and Mustache Contest who made creative fake beards to keep up with the adult contestants.

“They were amazing. They definitely spent some time on these beards,” McDaniel said with a laugh. “We really try to make sure everything the adults can do at the Games, the kids can do too.”

McDaniel thanked all the volunteers for helping them make the Highland Games possible.

“There's no way we couldn't do our event without the volunteers," McDaniel said.

For more information, visit alaskanscottish.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com