Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Hundreds gather at 157th Turakina Highland Games in Rangitīkei

Ethan Griffiths
By Ethan Griffiths
Multimedia journalist·Whanganui Chronicle·
31 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Highland dancing was a highlight at the event, with (from left) Samantha Read, Kate Easton and Isabelle Aubrey taking part in the competition. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Highland dancing was a highlight at the event, with (from left) Samantha Read, Kate Easton and Isabelle Aubrey taking part in the competition. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Hundreds of people poured into Turakina on Saturday to take in the best of Caledonian tradition the small Rangitīkei town has to offer.

Organised by the Turakina Caledonian Society, the Turakina Highland Games are a staple in the town, held since the formation of the society in 1864.

Chris Poppe performs at the Highland Games. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Chris Poppe performs at the Highland Games. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Traditional Scottish field events included the sheaf toss, shot put, tug of war, farmer's walk, three-legged walk and needle-in-the-haystack.

The most popular field event was the caber toss, where throwers aim for a perfect '12 o'clock' score, meaning the caber has landed directly away from them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Tina Miller takes her turn at tossing the caber. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Tina Miller takes her turn at tossing the caber. Photo / Lewis Gardner

The day also saw a number of traditional cultural performances, many of which included young people from around the country.

The schedule included piping, drumming, bands and a veteran's recital, as well as the presentation of the annual McLean Scholarship which is awarded to the most promising Youth Pipe Band.

Enthusiastic audiences spent their Saturday at the event. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Enthusiastic audiences spent their Saturday at the event. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Many attendees also took advantage of the makeshift campsites for the event, with a "quiet" one set aside on the grounds of Turakina School, and a more "lively" one on the grounds of the Turakina Domain.

Drummer Sam Hunter joins in the performance. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Drummer Sam Hunter joins in the performance. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Premium gold

Discover more

Whanganui state highway works damage multiple vehicles

28 Jan 04:00 PM

Turakina Highland Games are back

22 Jan 04:00 PM

Speed stacker champ has many other talents you don't know about

31 Jan 04:00 PM

Record breaker: How Whanganui retail boomed in 2020

31 Jan 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Town centres to get multimillion-dollar makeovers

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

19 Jun 05:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

19 Jun 05:00 PM

The Northern team will face Rangitīkei in Taihape today, Matariki Friday.

'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Town centres to get multimillion-dollar makeovers

Town centres to get multimillion-dollar makeovers

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Club rugby: Senior quarter-finals locked in

Club rugby: Senior quarter-finals locked in

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP