The Bridge of Allan Highland Games Are Back: Your Local Guide for 2026
This Sunday, the field just up the road from us becomes one of the best days out in Scotland. The Bridge of Allan Highland Games return to Strathallan Games Park on Sunday 2 August 2026, and this year is a special one. The Games are celebrating their 175th year, which makes them older than a good deal of Scotch whisky and every bit as woven into the local story. If you are anywhere near Stirling this weekend, this is where you want to be.
We are a Stirling family firm ourselves, a mile below the castle, so an event this close to home is one we always look forward to. Gin is where this distillery began, long before the whisky, and days like this are exactly why we love being rooted in this part of Scotland. Here is what to expect, and how to turn it into a proper Stirlingshire day out.
What is on at the 2026 Games
Gates run from 10am to 6pm, and the programme is packed from the first caber to the final note. Expect the full spectacle of a classic Highland Games, including:
- Heavyweight competition for men and women, cabers, hammers, stones and all
- Almost two hundred Highland dancers
- More than a thousand pipers across the day
- Athletics, cycling and wrestling
- Trade stands and craft stalls
- A funfair to keep the children busy
- Plenty of catering and refreshments
Between eight and ten thousand people come through the gates each year, and the day ends with the massed pipe bands, one of the most stirring sights and sounds Scotland has to offer. Bring a jacket, bring cash for the stalls, and get there early for a good spot on the bank.
How to make a weekend of the Bridge of Allan Highland Games
What makes this event so good is where it sits. Strathallan Games Park is ringed by Stirling Castle, the Ochil Hills and the National Wallace Monument, which is about as Scottish a backdrop as you will find anywhere.
That setting is also why the Games pair so well with a trip to see us. Our distillery sits a mile below the castle, a short hop from the Games field, so it is easy to build the two into one day. Have a look at how to plan your visit and check how to find us before you set off, and you can bookend the pipes and the heavy events with something a little quieter.
A quick word of local advice. The village gets busy on Games day, so give yourself extra time to park and walk in, wear something for Scottish weather in either direction, and pace yourself. It is a long, joyful day, and the massed pipe bands at the end are worth staying for.
Raise a Stirling gin to 175 years
There is no better way to toast a 175th birthday than with a spirit made in the same corner of Scotland. Our flagship Stirling Gin is built around wild Stirlingshire nettles that June forages herself, made in small batches and hand wax-sealed at the distillery. It is gin with a real sense of place, which feels about right for a day like this.
If the Games leave you wanting to see how it all comes together, browse the Stirling gin collection or book one of our distillery experiences and make a real occasion of your Highland Games weekend.
The Games are on Sunday 2 August. Come for the pipes, stay for the gin, and plan your visit to the distillery while you are in town.
