Every year the Queen Mary celebrates its own heritage with a tribute festival to the land of its birth, Scotland. The Queen Mary Scotsfest, AKA the Queen Mary Scottish Festival, showcases Scottish food, music, crafts, highland dancing, historic reenactments and lots of men in kilts. You can compete in the Dart Tournament or Haggis Eating Contest. The event kicks off with a Glenfiddich Whiskey Tasting and Men of Worth concert on Friday night. The outdoor athletic competitions will be back (Whoohoo! I love those men in kilts throwing cabers.), as well as the sheep herding competition. A lineup of LA's favorite Celtic folk and Scots Rock bands will perform in two venues on Saturday night at Rock Yer Kilt.
There are special hotel packages including admission for the event if you want to stay on the ship, or you can compare rates at kayak.com.
When: Feb 16-17, 2013, see website for hours
Where: Queen Mary
Cost: Adults - One day $18 online $22 at the door, two days $24/$28; Senior/Military $2 off; child 5-11 $6/7 off 1 day, $8 off 2-day, beer tasting $10, whiskey tasting $15, Saturday concert $15
Parking: $15 for one day, $20 two-day, online only
Info: www.queenmary.com
Note: Admission includes self-guided ship tour and Ghosts and Legends special effects show.
More:
- Queen Mary Scottish Festival Photos
- Queen Mary Visitors Guide
- Queen Mary Photo Gallery
- Queen Mary Hotel Review
Photo © 2007 Kayte Deioma, used with permission
I brought my father and wife to this, he was at the launching of the Queen Mary so I thought it would be a nice treat. We stayed the night on the ship, so we could have a drink or two and not worry about driving. With parking, it was about $500 for the three of us, but hey it should be a good laugh.
Nothing Scottish, except Scotch. No Scottish food, unless you want some haggis, really… Haggis! No Scottish beer! There were a few pipe bands. I heard three Scottish accents all day. The shops were full of crap from china. Some sorry wanna be scots in kilts, you know the American clutching at something he knows very little about so he can wear a skirt, yep skirt. And somehow a bunch of ren fair freaks were part of this crap. Fraud is the term that comes to mind.
Hi Stewart,
I’m sorry the Scotsfest didn’t meet your expectations. When I’ve gone, I’ve found it quite entertaining. The lack of Scottish accents shouldn’t surprise you at a gathering of Americans celebrating their Scottish (and other Celtic) heritage. Also, just because someone may not look like a Scot, doesn’t mean that their background doesn’t include some Scottish blood (I’m 1/16 Scot). Even if some non-Scots were running around in traditional, or the so-called utility-kilts, everyone is Scottish at Scotsfest in the same way that everyone is Greek for a Day at a Greek Festival and Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. In LA we love to celebrate each others’ cultures, not just our own.