Grandfather Mountain Highland Games Office — Local services in Newland

Terrible experience. Having to ride on the shuttle to get here instead of driving your own car only to get to the road to go up the mountain and learning from the bus driver that the shuttles aren't allowed on the main road so we had to go off roading up the mountain shows how little regard is given to the paying customers of the games. The athletic field is surrounded mainly by the clan tents so if you are lucky enough to find a place to sit, you can't see much of anything. The dancing tents are blocking our view of the athletic events. We waited over an hour in line to get food and because of the setup of the field and the food tents, you can't see anything going on while you wait. We paid so much money and as a customer that isn't Scottish and came to the games to enjoy the events, I feel like we are completely disregarded as useful other than to take in our hard earned money, to the event. We will never be returning. We could have had a much more enjoyable experience with our friends and family, which this is their first time attending a highland games event, doing something different in the mountains of NC. Stone Mountain is a completely different Highland Games experience. It is actually enjoyable to attend and you can actually watch what is going on. I am unsure though if some of our newbies in our party will ever attend due to the awful...

We had heard basically nothing but good things about the games, so we drove 3 hours one way from the Triad area to attend this year. We arrived with anticipation only to pay $60 (2 adults) for admission and spent little more than an hour there and left EXTREMELY disappointed.

The festival is centered around a track for the field games (pole vaulting, tree throwing, etc), and besides a lot of clan tents and 1-2 tents with music there are no real attractions. Events there seem very poorly organized and unless you are from a Scottish family or know someone competing in the games, there is almost no point in going.

We ended up leaving bored after about an hour and spent the rest of our day on Grandfather mountain and Linville Caverns before driving ANOTHER 3 hours one way back home.

Would not attend again or recommend unless you live in the area anyway or know someone competing...

I love the games every year. It's great to catch up with friends and family who I only see on the mountain. So, why 3 stars? Well, my and other's interactions with some of the staff this year were so horrible that it almost turned me off to the games all together. It would be most advisable for the board to reconsider who they have interacting with their customers. I do not believe that the impression these people are giving is the impression the board wishes to exude.

Edit: That staff memeber has been fired and tried to blow up the building. New staff is even worse. They keep making changes in what appears to be an attempt to keep people from coming. It's working. I'm hearing of many who will not be attending and I will only be there 1 day instead of my normal 4, and that 1 day is simply because I have a clan annual meeting I cannot miss. Get your...