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
Cowal the south to Rhubodach on the Isle of Bute. Much of Cowal was once held by the Lamonts. Later, the Campbells came to be one of the most powerful families in Cowal. The Cowal peninsula is bounded by Loch Fyne on the west and Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde on the east. It is separated from the Isle of Bute by the deep narrow straits of the Kyles of Bute. The coastline is incised by deep sea lochs, principally Loch Riddon, and Loch Striven. These split the southern half of Cowal into three narrower peninsulas; on the west,