Highland games "Cowal Games", held in Dunoon, Scotland, every August, is the largest Highland games in the world, attracting around 3,500 competitors and somewhere in the region of 23,000 spectators from around the globe. Worldwide, however, it is exceeded in terms of spectators by two gatherings in the United States: the estimated 30,000 that attend Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina and the even larger gathering—the largest in the Northern Hemisphere—that has taken place every year since 1866. This event is currently held on Labor Day weekend in Pleasanton, California, and their Sesquicentennial Games held on September 5–6, 2015, attracted record crowds close
Scottish Games in North Carolina North Carolina co-founded the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Donald MacDonald's vision for the games was based on the Royal Braemar Gathering, which he'd attended a few years before in Scotland in 1954. The Braemar Games had been held there for several hundred years and the Grandfather Mountain Games was often later called "America's Braemar". It was special in many ways, by boasting an oval track in which traditional foot races could be held, along with the heavy events in the inner field. The site became a favorite among games attendees very fast for its striking resemblance to the Highlands of