The Opening Ceremonies are a Games tradition that features the Clans March Past and National Anthems, and culminates with the famous "Let the Games begin" announcement.
The Closing Ceremonies showcase the very best of Scottish entertainment in a packed schedule which ends with the spectacular march-off of the Massed Bands featuring hundreds of pipers and drummers playing and marching in unison.
Open to kilted runners of all ages
Registration desk open from 8:00 a.m. each day
Clan March Past
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band
National Anthems
Introductions & Presentations
"Let the Games begin" announcement
Drum Major Competition Heats
Caber Toss
Weight for Height
Sheaf Toss
Drum Major Competition Finals
Special Drum Major Performance
Scottish Country Dancers
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band
LA Scots Pipe Band
Scottish Folk Bands
Massed Pipe Bands
Scottish Highland Dancers
"Flower of Scotland"
Massed Bands March-Off
The Third Marine Aircraft Wing was commissioned on the 167th anniversary of the Marine Corps, November 10, 1942, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Following the conclusion of World War II, the wing was deactivated, and those who remained on active duty were reassigned to units across the Corps. In 1952, the wing was reactivated at Marine Corps Air Station Miami during the height of the Korean Conflict. Five years later, the wing relocated to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Orange County, California. There the wing remained for 42 years before moving to its current home at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego in 1999.
The band regularly performs in military ceremonies and as musical ambassadors to the public at home and abroad. Notable appearances from recent years include the airshows at Marine Corps Air Stations Miramar and Yuma; Victoria Day events in Victoria, Canada; Los Angeles Fleet Week; the Pleasanton Scottish Gathering and Games; and military appreciation games with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco 49ers. When not actively performing, band Marines hone their military readiness and train for combat. The band has deployed to combat theaters numerous times since its inception—including Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom–and the Marines must be ready to go when the nation calls.
Staff Sergeant Benjamin S. Meyers leads the 3rd MAW Band as its Enlisted Conductor, while Gunnery Sergeant Geoffrey A. Parks serves as the Band's Drum Major.
The Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band was founded in 1961 by Pipe Major Jimmy Thompson, Pipe Sergeant Ian MacDonald, and Drum Sergeant Charlie Capperauld. The band quickly found success throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, reaching what is now the equivalent of Grade 1 and competing until 1974.
In the early 1990s, the sons of the founding members revived the "LA Scots" under the leadership of Pipe Major Scott Ruscoe and Drum Sergeant Tom Foley. In 1992, Scott MacDonald assumed the role of Pipe Major, and the band once again achieved competitive success, reaffirming its place as one of the premier pipe band organizations in the United States. Re-establishing itself in Grade 2, the band competed throughout the United States, Canada, and Scotland, culminating in its landmark victory in Grade 2 at the 1997 World Pipe Band Championships—the first time a band from the United States had won the title.
Later that year, the LA Scots was promoted to Grade 1, becoming one of only three American bands competing at the highest level. Over the next two decades, the band continued to perform and compete at the top level, regularly traveling throughout North America and to Scotland for the World Pipe Band Championships.
Today, the LA Scots competes in Grade 2 under the leadership of Pipe Major Scott MacDonald and Drum Sergeant Scott Walsh, continuing a proud tradition of excellence that has spanned more than six decades.