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With its mix of heavy athletic competitions and piping, drumming and dancing, Scotland’s Highland Gatherings have inspired similar events well beyond the country’s borders.

Ruesselsheim am Main, Germany hosts its annual Mainland Games Sept. 2-3. Team competitions in heavy events including tossing the caber, weight throwing for height and for distance, tug of war, barrel rolling and more are on the program; individuals compete in five similar disciplines. The Celtic market will serve up Scottish food from haggis to fish and chips and drink including over 100 types of whisky.

Children can compete in their own events, watch Border Collies herding sheep, take a pony ride or try their hand at shooting a bow and arrow. The on-stage entertainment includes pipes and drums, Irish and Scottish folk, Irish Step Dance, Scottish Sword Dance and more.

The games take place at the Mainvorland, Opelvillen, Ludwig-Dorfler-Allee, 65428 Ruesselsheim. Gates open at 10 a.m. both days. Adult entry costs 7 euros ($8.25); children ages 13 and under enter free. The S8 or S9 commuter trains from Wiesbaden stop at the Ruesselsheim train station, from which it is a 10-minute walk to the Mainvorland. For details, see mainlandgames.de.

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