June 12-14, 2009
E. H. Young Riverfront Park
Riverside, Missouri

Highland Games Entertainment

The Games offer a full weekend of musical entertainment on two stages, drawing local and national performers of traditional and contemporary Celtic music. You'll hear Scottish strathspeys, jigs and reels played by pipers, fiddlers and others in authentic styles. Listen to Irish, Welsh and Breton ballads, airs and laments from soloists and bands alike. Celtic rock is big internationally, and you'll hear high energy groups headlining our stages in Kansas City as well. The area is rich with musical talent from its Scots-Irish heritage, and the Games tap into that eager and creative pool to bring the best Celtic sounds in the region. Ethnic, folk, rock, cutting edge — you'll hear it all in Kansas City.

Essential to the definition of Scottish music, the harp enjoys a popular venue at Kansas City's Highland Games. The cruit or clarsach historically was the most popular musical instrument of Scotland before the advent of the great highland bagpipe circa 1200 C.E. Long the favorite of kings and nobility, the harp served prominently in ceremonies, banquets and weddings from the 8th century onward. Today, we enjoy it at our Games as a gentle and resilient form which is sometimes surprising — traditional airs give way to jazz as area harp masters inspire Games audiences. Be sure to visit the Harp Tent at the Games, and enjoy what you hear.

The Ozark mountains of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas give us a special link with the music that developed near here. The Scots and Irish that emigrated to the Ozarks preserved and evolved traditional music from the old countries, keeping much of it in a pure form in mountain hollers and forests. Our entertainment director Michael Fraser spent years learning the music and culture of the Ozarks and is a master fiddler in the Scots-Irish tradition. His special insight into the history and nuances of Scottish fiddling helps bring outstanding fiddling venues to the Kansas City Games. You will see an abundance of great fiddling at our Games in June.

Videos are increasingly part of entertainers' presskits, and we offer them to you for your enjoyment when available. You must have the correct software downloaded on your computer to play them. We offer three video players to choose from — QuickTime, Windows Media Player and Realplayer. Each player requires a few moments to load the video, depending on file size and your Internet connection.

Download your video player here, if needed: QuickTime, Windows Media Player, Realplayer

Enjoy the music and the Games!