Celtic Strength World Championships

The Celtic Strength World Championships (CSWC) will be held this June 13th outside Boston at Fino Field in Milford, Massachusetts. We will have a most impressive gathering – uniting Scottish and Celtic heritage, tradition, language, strength science, folklore, and community in a unique way. The vision is to make the inherent interdisciplinary nature of Celtic strength traditions an educational, tangible, and experiential reality. Our event is a unique chance for the Scottish and Celtic communities and aficionados to come together to support culture, traditions, language, folklore, interests, sport, and identity. Never before in Celtic history have all of these branches of our Celtic tree been so unified, cohesive, and proudly on display for the public to come experience and take part.

Moreover, Scotland returns to the World Cup the same day later at 9pm at Gillette Stadium, only 25 minutes away from our venue. Thus, we are positioned to be a cultural anchor point for Scotland over that weekend, and we are asking the Scottish and Celtic communities to rally and unite.

Here are most details for an overview of this historic Event:
Highland Games Heavy Events:
– The CSWC will serve as a launch platform for the Celtic Championship Series, the new Heavy Events Pro League. Representation from across Europe, Canada, USA, South Africa, and Australia. Open Format. Removing nepotism and favoritism. If an athlete wants to test their mettle, they can register and put their hat in the ring. All Classes contested, women and men.

Two (2) Celtic Wrestling Championships:
– The first ever North American Scottish Backhold Wrestling Championships, sanctioned & officiated by the Scottish Wrestling Bond, flying in from Scotland.
– The return of Irish Collar and Elbow Wrestling after 100 years in the Northeast Championship. Sanctioned & officiated by the Irish Collar and Elbow Federation flying in from Ireland.

Team Highlander Championship:
– Barbell clubs from around New England and beyond form to battle each other in 5 events. Started in 2023 and a huge success throughout all of New England.

Celtic Stonelifting:
– Crowd Try-it Station
– Inauguration of Clach Fear Alba lifting stone freighted from Scotland, paired with the Cloch Bán stone from Ireland.
– The Stone Man Challenge with historic Stones of Strength.

Strength Challenges:
– CrossFit Highlander Challenge: 2min WOD
– Zercher Squat Challenge
– Irish Stickfighting & Celtic Combat: Bareknuckle Boxing, Catch Wrestling.
– Kids Tug-of-War vs Pros

Celtic Village:
– Games Chieftain: Clan MacGillivray Chief Iain MacGillivray of Scotland
– Opening Ceremony
– Scottish FanZone
– VIP Guests
– Pipes & Drums
– Celtic Vendors
– Live Music
– Youth athletics
– Celtic Organizations
– “What is Celtic Strength?” Cultural panel and discussion
– The Black Harp traveling pub & Guinness “perfect pour tutorial” with Guinness Ambassador Michael Reardon

“What is Celtic Strength?” Cultural Panel & Discussion:
Harvard Celtic Department, Boston College Irish Studies Program, David “Indiana Stones” Keohan (Irish Stonelifting Revivalist and seanchaí), Martin Jancsics (Scottish Stonelifting and Mythology expert) Nathan Featherstone (Irish Martial Arts Expert, Scholar: Collar and Elbow Wrestling & Bataireacht), Vivienne Sayers O Callaghan (NYC based Irish Language, Culture, and Arts advocate and educator), and others. *We are looking for more Scottish and Gàidhlig representation if you know anybody!

Contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments, or feedback! Slàinte Mhath!