Victoria Highland Games & Celtic Festival

In Victoria the beginning of summer is marked by the Victoria Day long weekend, a public holiday marking the birthday of Queen Victoria. While it's a public holiday throughout Canada, here in her namesake city it is perhaps more fervently celebrated than elsewhere. Traditionally here the long weekend is opened with the Victoria Highland Games & Celtic Festival on Saturday and Sunday. Many (if not most) of the city's founders were Scotsmen who came out to settle here and build fortunes and families so our Scottish roots run deep and many thousands of people turn out for this annual festival of all things Scottish. Queen Victoria herself had a long and intimate association with Scotland. The skirl of bagpipes is constantly heard from the many pipe bands that attend. There is a never ending parade of tartan-kilted lads and lassies leaping. And those that have gotten too heavy for leaping can join in the Highland sports, most of which consist of throwing heavy objects, including "Tossing the Caber", as can be seen in the video below. A caber is typically 19 feet 6 inches (5.94 m) tall and weighs 175 pounds (79 kg). Some of the gentlemen partipating in the video below are world champions at various Highland sports, including tossing the caber. These are big men - most tipping the scale at around 300 pounds and averaging over 6 feet in height.