BYU's Irish Dance Club may bring Celtic traditions to the Provo campus, but the Utah Scottish Association takes it a step further by keeping Celtic culture alive throughout the state and on the Utah State Fairpark.
A summer day in Utah is a far cry from the cold, gray skies of Scotland. But the Celtic community is clad in plaid on a 90 degree day in Salt Lake City for the Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games.
Utahns gathered in Salt Lake City for the games, celebrating their tartan stamped genealogy.
"There's quite a lot of Scottish ancestry of people who moved here to Utah because of some of the similarities in the mountainous regions. I honestly think that's part of the reason the organization was even founded is because of the strong family history ties here," Alisa Scott, Utah Scottish Association secretary, said.
2026 marks the Utah Scottish Association's fiftieth year and the state has become a hub for athletic, dance and music championships.
"My great grandmother was born in Scotland and she came here. She used to teach Highland dance," Jared Hunt, festival director, said.
When attendees aren't competing, they are usually investigating their family history and culture.
"I just recently started studying my heritage and I've always had that question of why, when I hear bagpipes, I feel alive," Logan Bruek, Utah Scottish Association board member, said.
"My twenty-two years in the military, I didn't care about anything but being a soldier. But my sisters did my genealogy stuff and I just got into it more than they did," Daniel Lamont, North American Clan Lamont Society, Far West Director, said.
The festival included a parade of tents representing Scottish clans that date back to Medieval eras.
"We have a book right here, I can look in that book and say, 'Oh yeah, these are Gaelic names,'" Lamont said.
But the games aren't only for Celtic descendants, because the clans keep up a tradition of cultural integration for those who love this community.
"You can be adopted and the spirit begins to adopt you as soon as you hear the pipes," Bill Lawrence, Honorary Festival Chieftain, said.
Other Scottish festivals and celebrations in Utah include the Payson Scottish Festival, the Utah Pipe Band's "Scottish Pioneer Celebration," and Scots on the Rocks in Moab. To learn more about the state's Scottish community, visit utahscotts.org.