Kenmore Highland Games

The Kenmore Highland Games happen once a year in this small Perthshire village, and if you time your holiday right, it's absolutely worth rearranging your plans for. Picture the main field packed with competitors in full Highland dress, tossing the caber, hurling hammers, and throwing weights - proper feats of strength that look frankly impossible. There's pipe bands too, marching through the village with that distinctive wail that either gets under your skin or makes you want to leave immediately. Honestly, I'm in the first camp.

You'll see local athletes from across the Highlands competing, plus the inevitable crowd of visitors who've driven over from Pitlochry, just eight miles down the road. Families tend to find the first hour or two gripping - there's something magnetic about watching a bloke in a kilt launch a telephone pole sideways - but younger kids often lose interest unless you're the type to explain each event in detail. Walkers and history types will appreciate the cultural side, even if they're not dyed-in-the-wool Highland Games enthusiasts.

It's a community event, not some slick commercial production, which is either its charm or its limitation depending on your view. Facilities are fairly basic. If you're camping at Glengoulandie - the park's genuinely excellent and only 4.4 miles away - you could pop over for the day without much fuss. Check ahead for dates and whether there's any charge; most Highland Games do ask for entry, usually a tenner or so. Late summer is the season for these things.