The romance and power of pure strength will take centre stage when Warwick hosts the Australian Highland Games Championships during this year’s CelticFest.
Twenty strongmen will vie for the open men’s title and the man crowned Australia’s National Highland Games Champion will go on to represent Australia at the World Amateur Highland Games Championships in Norway in March 2024.
The Warwick Showgrounds will be the venue for this great show of strength on Sunday 1 October over the September long weekend.
Previously the Australian Highland Games Championships had been held at The Gathering in Ipswich. Championship organiser, Highland Muscle’s Rob Mitchell, said that the decision to hold the event during CelticFest was down to two factors: the timing of the event, and the ability of CelticFest to hold a ‘decent crowd’.
There had been an outstanding reception for the Highland Games Heavy Events during CelticFest 2022 when both the Portley Grandstand and the area in front of it were packed with onlookers as they revelled in the feats of strength from strongmen and women in events including putting the stone, hammer throw, weight for height, and everyone’s favourite, the caber toss.
By the time CelticFest 2023 rolls around, athletes will have competed in four qualifying events – the Hayland Gathering, the Melbourne Highland Games and Celtic Festival, the NSW Central Coast Highland Challenge, and the Australian Celtic Festival. Competitors placing in the top three in their divisions in these events will automatically qualify to compete in the Australian Highland Games Championships in Warwick.
There will be four divisions: Open Men’s, Open Women’s, Masters’ Men’s, and Men’s under 90kg. Mitchell said all current champions would compete in Warwick – Terry Sparks (Open Men’s), Fran Fitzpatrick (Open Women’s), Stephen Henry (Master’s Men’s), and Morgan Westmoreland (Men’s Under 90kg) – with around 25 athletes in total.
Other athletes to watch out for are Sian Cooper, Kalina Vikilani, and last year’s Open Men’s winner at CelticFest, Macauley Tinker. Mitchell himself is aiming for the Men’s Masters’ crown after coming back from injury late last year.
The Australian Highland Games Championships are actually the third national event for the Celtic-flavoured weekend. Two CelticFringe events also bear the ‘national’ crest – the Inaugural Australian Juvenile Pipe band Championships, to be hosted by SCOTS PGC College and the Australian Solo Piping and Drumming Championships, to be held on 29 and 30 September.
Tickets are now available for CelticFest. Earlybird pricing will be available until midnight Friday 30 June. More information can be found at www.celticfestqld.com.au.
