Tartan Day South 2026 Events
Tartan Day South Kick Off Party
Location: Steel Hands Brewing | 2350 Foreman Street, Cayce SC
Event Starts: 6:30 PM | Free
An evening of music Featuring 48 Fables
Presented by: 
Celtic “Commotion” Concert
Location: Icehouse Amphitheater | 107 West Main Street, Lexington SC
Gates Open: 6:00 PM
Event Starts: 6:30 PM | Tickets
Featuring Kilmaine Saints, Tuatha Dea, and SYR
An evening of Celtic culture featuring music, demonstrations and artistic exhibitions.
Bring a stadium cushion or blanket (no coolers allowed)
Presented by: 
Highland Games & Celtic Festival
Location: Historic Columbia Speedway | 2001 Charleston Highway, Cayce SC
Event Starts: 9:00 AM | Tickets
Highland Athletics
Traditional Dancing Exhibitions
Great Celtic Music
Mass Pipe Bands
Sheep Dog Herding Exhibitions
Birds of Prey Exhibitions
Traditional Foods & Drink
Genealogy
Classic British Car Show
Celtic Clans & Societies
Celtic Marketplace
Kids Fun Putting Course and Train
Military History Presentations
Blacksmiths
Colonial Village
Colonial Village
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of a Nation
Location: Heritage Tent, Historic Columbia Speedway | 2001 Charleston Highway, Cayce SC
Event: 9:00 AM-5:00 PM | Included with Highland Games & Celtic Festival Tickets
Cross Stitch
Spinning
Rifle Making
Lexington County Museum
12,000 Year History Park
Archaeological Society of South Carolina
Blacksmithing
SC 250
South Carolina Battlefield Trust
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Granby Chapter
Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Godfrey Dreher Chapter
Cayce Historical Museum – 18th Century Sewing and Dyeing
Brick Making
Log Cabin Building and Woodworking Exercises
Fort Granby and the Town of Granby
African Americans and the Revolutionary War
South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
Lexington County Public Library
South Carolina Independent Company
Indigo Dyeing
Fifer Dan with the 2nd South Carolina Revolutionary War Reenactors
Life in the Colonial Period
Military Museum of South Carolina
Revolutionary War Surveying and Maps
Gullah Sweetgrass Basket Weaver
Drumsmoke – An Evening of Campfires, Music and Tribal Beats
Location: Historic Columbia Speedway Campground | 2001 Charleston Highway, Cayce SC
Event Starts Around: 7:00 PM | Free
The FREE event is open to everyone and will take place at the Historic Columbia Speedway campgrounds on Saturday night following the conclusion of the Highland Games & Celtic Festival’s activities around sundown. Tuatha Dea will be on hand to lead the drumming experience.
Click here for online camping registration.
Drumsmoke is dedicated to the memory of Lanny Skinner, one of the original visionaries of Tartan Day South. Slàinte, Lanny
Kirkin’ of the Tartans
Location: West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater | 109 Alexander Road, West Columbia, SC
Event Starts: 11:00 AM | Free
What is the Kirkin’ of the Tartan?
Here is a little bit of the history of the custom.
After the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746, the English Parliament banned wearing tartan, speaking Gaelic, Scottish music, dancing, or playing the pipes. Any person caught doing anything of these could be shot on sight, arrested, or exiled to the colonies. This ban lasted for 36 years.
Legend says the Highlanders devised a plan to hide a piece of tartan in their clothing during church. At a set time during the service, they would hold the tartan and bless it. When the Scots were forced to fight for the British Army, it is said that the women would take a piece of their tartan to the Kirk (church) to be blessed and to pray for the protection of their clan. Thus came the Scottish celebration is known as the Kirkin’ O’ the Tartan.
The Kirkin’ is celebrated by Scots – and those who would be Scots – accompanied by prayer, scripture, preaching, blessing, bagpipe, and of course, the singing of Amazing Grace. Now, in present-day celebration, the Highlander patriotism, faithfulness, and strong independence are remembered by the displaying of tartans and a public parade of the clans to the sound of the bagpipe.
Presented by: 
Tartan Day South Plaid Sponsors
