Hororata Highland Games | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Location(s) | Hororata, Canterbury |
Coordinates | 43°32′1.88″S171°57′14.92″E / 43.5338556°S 171.9541444°E Coordinates: 43°32′1.88″S171°57′14.92″E / 43.5338556°S 171.9541444°E |
Country | New Zealand |
Inaugurated | November 5, 2011 |
Most recent | November 7, 2020 |
Attendance | 8,500 (2020) |
Website | hororatahighlandgames |
The Hororata Highland Games is an annual event held in Hororata, New Zealand. The Games began in 2011, following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. The Hororata community had a desire to make a positive change following the damage of the Canterbury earthquakes. The annual event has increased in popularity with 10,000 people coming to the 2016 edition. [1] It has since become New Zealand's biggest Scottish festival. [2]
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic closed New Zealand's borders. This left overseas tourists unable to attend the Games. Despite this, 8,500 people showed up to its tenth event. [3]
There is a Chieftain for each games who presides over the opening ceremony. These have included: [4]
The Chieftain for 2020 was John de Vries. [6]
A study conducted by the University of Canterbury looked at the economic benefits of the Hororata Highland Games. This found that they provided $370,000 to the Selwyn District economy in 2019. [7]
The Games have over 300 competitors turn up each year, with about 570 competitors competing in 2020. [3] Competitions include Highland Dancing, Piping and Drumming, Tug O’ War and Scottish heavy athletics (men's and women's). The heavy athletics include the hammer throw, the sheaf toss, the Hororata stones and tossing the caber. The Kilted mile is a race over a mile which includes eating a Hororata Pie, Drinking a traditional Scottish drink and negotiating a series of obstacles. [8] There are also stalls, food vendors and a fairground each year.
A kilt is a type of knee-length men’s dress skirt non-bifurcated with pleats at the back, originating in the traditional dress of Gaelic men and boys in the Scottish Highlands. It is first recorded in the 16th century as the great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak. The small kilt or modern kilt emerged in the 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt. Since the 19th century, it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland, and more broadly with Gaelic or Celtic heritage. It is most often made of woollen cloth in a tartan pattern.
Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,503.88 square kilometres (17,183.04 sq mi), and is home to a population of 649,800.
Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury. Founded in 1878, it is the oldest agricultural teaching institution in the Southern Hemisphere. It remains the smallest university in New Zealand and one of the eight public universities. The campus is situated on 50 ha of land located about 15 km (9 mi) outside the city of Christchurch, in Lincoln, Canterbury.
Highland games are events held in spring and summer in Scotland and other countries with a large Scottish diaspora, as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes, the kilt, and the heavy events, especially the caber toss. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic cultures.
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park located along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is 392,100 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is 380,600 people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. Christchurch is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.
ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, surrounded by Cathedral Square. It became the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Christchurch, who is in the New Zealand tikanga of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
Selwyn District is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River / Waikirikiri, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand who, in 1843 and 1844, travelled the length of the country by horse, foot, boat and canoe, leaving in his wake a sprinkling of locations that now bear his name.
Sir John Hall was a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th premier of New Zealand from 1879 to 1882. He was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, the third son of George Hall, a captain in the navy. At the age of ten he was sent to school in Switzerland and his education continued in Paris and Hamburg. After returning to England and being employed by the Post Office, at the age of 27 he decided to emigrate. He was also Mayor of Christchurch.
Lancaster Park, previously known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium was closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthquake and subsequently demolished in 2019.
Rolleston is the seat and largest town in the Selwyn District, in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the Canterbury Plains 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-west of Christchurch, and is considered a satellite town of the city. The town has a population of 24,700, making it New Zealand's 26th-largest urban area and the third-largest in Canterbury. It was nicknamed the "Town of the Future" in the 1970s by Prime Minister Norman Kirk. The "Town of the Future" signage has since been removed from the entrances to Rolleston.
Queen Elizabeth II Park was a multi-use stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand, located in a large park of the same name. The stadium had a capacity of 25,000 people and was built in 1973 to host the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, with a temporary 10,000 seat western stand erected for that event to take the capacity to 35,000. The stadium suffered some damage in the September 2010 Canterbury earthquake but was able to reopen, only to be damaged beyond repair in February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Waimakariri is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, formed for the 1996 election and returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The MP for Waimakariri is Matt Doocey of the National Party. He has held this position since the 2014 election and takes over from Kate Wilkinson, who defeated Clayton Cosgrove (Labour) in the 2011 election.
Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's structure of local government.
The Highlander Challenge World Championships is a tournament that marries traditional Highland Games with more contemporary strength athletics. It was created to help reinvigorate Highland Games in Scotland by giving a modern and aspirational image while maintaining the tradition inherent in the history of the sport.
Amy Juliet Adams is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party and the current chancellor of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. She was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 2008 to 2020, when she retired.
Orion New Zealand Limited (Orion) is an electricity distribution company, based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at 4:35 am local time on 4 September, and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Some damaging aftershocks followed the main event, the strongest of which was a magnitude 6.3 shock known as the Christchurch earthquake that occurred nearly six months later on 22 February 2011. Because this aftershock was centred very close to Christchurch, it was much more destructive and resulted in the deaths of 185 people.
Hororata is a village at the northwestern edge of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Darfield, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, and 50 kilometres west of Christchurch, on the banks of the Hororata River. Hororata, when translated from Maori means "drooping rata". There are a large number of rata growing in the district.
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time. The Mw6.2 earthquake struck the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, the country's second-most populous city. It caused widespread damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people, in the nation's fifth-deadliest disaster.
St John's Church, Hororata also known as St John's Memorial Church and the Hororata Memorial Church is an Anglican church located in Hororata, New Zealand.
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