Bagpipes back at Bannockburn: Geelong’s highland games reborn

Geelong’s highland games is set for a spectacular revival in February 2026. After a five-year silence, the celebration of Celtic heritage and athleticism finds a new home in Bannockburn

Getting ready to welcome highland games back to the region from left is highland dancer Breidi Boyle and her children Killian, 3 and Scarlett, 5, hammer thrower Nigel Skurrie and Geelong Highland Games president Craig Carrothers-Monument. Picture: Alison Wynd

After a five-year hiatus, Geelong’s highland games are set to make a grand return with Bannockburn to host the Celtic celebration that hopes to recapture the glory of an event that once drew crowds of 10,000.

Under a new name, the Geelong Highland Games and Celtic Festival is set to be held February 21, 2026 at Bannockburn High School.

“From the thunder of the caber toss to the swirl of kilts on the dance stage, there’ll be something for everyone to enjoy,” president of the organising committee and clan commissioner for Australasia and Oceania Craig Carrothers-Monument said.

“A few of us were lamenting that the Geelong Highland Games was permanently closed a few years ago. A lot of people had spoken to us when they saw us walking around in kilts saying, ‘When’s the next Highland Games?’ So, we got chatting and thought what can we do to resurrect it?” he said.

Robbie "Orrik" Last and Rob "Hrothgar" Lock of the New Varangian Guard got into the action at the 2015 Geelong Highland Gathering at Deakin University. Picture: Nathan Dyer

The organising committee has met with Golden Plains Shire Council and say they are “very keen to put it on” and help with sponsorship and fundraising.

“We aim to start small, but we’ve got big plans … it’s all going to come down to how much funding we can raise.”

The event will include traditional heavy games, highland dancing, pipe bands, folk music, clan displays and market stalls.

Competitors from across Australia and New Zealand are expected to take part, including Nigel Skurrie, one of Geelong’s best heavy athletes, who came second to the current Australian champion at the recent Highland Games at the National Celtic Festival in Portarlington.

Highland dancers at The Gathering in 1880s

The Geelong Highland Gathering dates back to 1857 and was the second largest event of its kind in Australia.

In 2011 the gathering lost its home at Queens Park, the event was then held at various locations around Geelong including Fyansford, the Geelong Showgrounds, Deakin University, Goldsworthy Reserve in Corio and, in 2019, at Osborne Park in North Geelong.

The Covid pandemic meant the gathering was not held from 2020-22 before being permanently cancelled due to an ageing committee.

At the time Geelong Highland Gathering Association (GHGA) former chair and chieftain Dr Maurice Marshall said, “I am saddened and stressed by the loss, but privileged to have been part of the gathering and at home in Geelong.

Highland Gathering celebrating all things Scottish at Osborne Park, North Geelong. Heavy games with Joshua Plante from Canada in the Caber Toss. Picture: Mark Wilson

1973. Arthur Rowe won the caber tossing title at the South Pacific Highland Games at Queens Park, Newtown, Geelong.

“It has been a wonderful major event for Geelong over so many years, reminding us of the major influence of Scottish migrants including James Harrison, the inventor of refrigeration and founder of the Geelong Advertiser, the Rev Andrew Love, the region’s first Presbyterian minister and Alexander Thomson, first mayor of Geelong,” he said.

Originally published as Bagpipes back at Bannockburn: Geelong’s highland games reborn