2026 Woodland/Sacramento Games

[OC Richard]

For many years the Sacramento Valley Scottish Games & Gathering was held at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, California (near Sacramento, the State Capital).

2018 was its last year, replaced in 2019 by the Woodland Celtic Games & Festival, which only lasted one year, due to COVID.

During COVID, to have a way for pipers and drummers to compete in solos, WUSPBA began sanctioning a slate of "Pipes & Pubs" competitions held in breweries and pubs across the western USA.

Blue Note Brewing in Woodland was one such venue, starting in 2023, and dubbed the NorCal Celtic Festival.

Not just piping and drumming solos, the event was in effect a small-scale Highland Games with Highland Dancing, Athletics, and pipe band competition, taking over a couple blocks of Main Street in old downtown Woodland.

I attended in 2024 and 2025 and thought the format, with no gate and no entrance fee, might become the future of US Highland Games.

However for 2026 the NorCal Celtic Festival moved to the Yolo County Fairgrounds as a full-sized big-venue Games.

Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and rain was forecast, on and off, all weekend.

This made it like the Games in Scotland, but hopefully wasn't an economic disaster for the organisers.

Here's our band, the Pasadena Scots, during one of the dry spells when the bands could take off their rain capes.

(We wear the California State tartan, essentially Muir in ancient colours.)