THE BRAEMAR GATHERING

ABOUT

The Braemar Gathering, is always held on the first Saturday in September in The Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park in Braemar. The event starts at 9.30 a.m. and usually finishes at about 5.00 p.m.

​

​

​

​

While there have been Gatherings of one sort or another at Braemar since the days of King Malcolm Canmore, nine hundred years ago, the Gathering has been run in its present form since 1832.

​

During much of that time large crowds have come each year to acclaim their Monarch as Chieftain of the Braemar Gathering.

The organisers of the gathering are the Braemar Royal Highland Society which was initially established as the Braemar Wright Society in July 1815, constituted in 1816 and formal registration in 1817, it remains the oldest surviving Friendly Society in the country. 

​

In 1826, the name of the Society was changed to the Braemar Highland Society and in 1866, Queen Victoria ordered that the title “Royal” should be added to the name of the Society. Since 1848, The Gathering has been attended regularly by the reigning Monarch and members of the Royal Family.  The foot races at The Gathering are world’s oldest, having been organised on a regular basis by the same body since 1832.

 

The core functions of the Charity are to;

 

• To provide recreational facilities, or to organise recreational facilities, in the interests of social welfare with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended and which are available to members of the public.

​

• To foster and promote community development for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Crathie and Braemar and the surrounding area.

​

• To promote the education of the general public about the history, traditions, sports, language, culture and heritage of Scotland.

​

• To advance the heritage and culture of Scotland by staging, managing, operating and promoting the Braemar Annual Royal Highland Gathering.

​

• To advance public participation in sport through the organisation of professional events and non professional events open to all comers.

 

This year construction has started on a new World Highland Games Centre, located in the games park.  This will enable us to display the heritage resources from the accumulated archives, artifacts, trophies and memorabilia relating to the Braemar Gathering.  These heritage items are in the possession of BRHS and date back to the first games which took place under the society auspices in 1832 and are not currently publicly accessible. Once built our aim is to engage with games organisers worldwide to establish the games centre as a showcase for all aspects of Highland Games heritage and research as a resource for games events worldwide, with interest for Scottish, UK and worldwide audiences.

 

If this is a project you would like to support or have enjoyed the experience of attending the Gathering and want to help us ensure it is an event which future generations can experience, please help our fundraising efforts by donating a little to our cause. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

For press enquiries: braemarpress@btinternet.com

​

As recommended by roughguides.com

​

Find out more about the Braemar Royal Highland Society: