The Highland Fling is Highland's city celebration, and it has one of the best names in the county. A Highland fling is a traditional Scottish solo dance, and the city leans into the connection: its own festival page notes that Highland was probably named by Scottish immigrants who said it reminded them of their beloved Scottish Highlands. So alongside the parade, the car show and the fireworks you would expect from any Utah city celebration, the Fling has a day of Scottish heavy athletics, with athletes tossing cabers and hurling stones on a Saturday afternoon in July.
It also has a luau, a tarp full of live fish, a strongman competition and a firefighters' dunk tank. The Fling is eclectic in the way that only a volunteer-driven city festival can be, and it is short: recent editions have packed the whole celebration into three days at the end of July, from a Thursday kickoff to a Saturday that runs from a 7 a.m. race to a 10 p.m. fireworks show.
This guide covers when the Fling happens and how it has changed, what each day holds, the Highland Games, tarp fishing and the other signature events, what it costs and how to plan it by age. The details come from the city's own Highland Fling pages; where a year is named, it shows how the celebration has run rather than promising how it will run next time.
When It Happens
The Highland Fling straddles the turn of July into August, and it has a simple rule: it always ends on the first Saturday in August. The city's list of past Flings bears that out for every dated year since 2005. In recent years it has been a three-day celebration: July 31 to August 2 in 2025 and July 30 to August 1 in 2026, each running Thursday to Saturday.
That compact shape is new. The city keeps a list of past Flings on its website, and for most of the last two decades the celebration ran a full week, usually from one Saturday to the next. The 2019 Fling ran July 27 to August 3, and the 2024 celebration still spanned July 29 to August 3. Shrinking it to three days concentrated the program, and the Saturday now carries most of it.
A few events spill outside the three days. The fine art show opens with an artist reception on the Wednesday evening before the Fling, and the pickleball tournament has held a players' reception the same night. The medallion hunt runs across all three days.
The 2027 dates had not been posted as of September 2026. If the rule holds, the Fling will end on Saturday, August 7, 2027, with details on the city's Highland Fling page and in the city newsletter and social media.
A Theme Every Year
Every Fling has a theme, and the city's list reads like a scrapbook: "Celebrate Family" in 2014, "The Great Outdoors" in 2022, "Our Slice of Paradise" in 2023, "Hometown Heroes" in 2024 and "Honoring Our Heritage" in 2025. Two of them mark the town's own milestones. Highland incorporated as a city in 1977, and the 2007 theme was "30 Years of Building the Dream," while 2017's was a "Ruby Jubilee" for the fortieth.
The 2026 program leaned into the nation's 250th anniversary, with America 250 booths and a celebratory presentation on the Saturday.
The Shape of the Fling
Thursday is kickoff night. The car show fills the evening, the firefighters' fundraiser serves hot dog and hamburger dinners while firefighters take their turns in the dunk tank, and the sports start: a home run derby, a drop-in kickball game for kids and then teens and adults, and the first day of the pickleball tournament.
Friday is luau night. The disc golf tournament tees off in the morning and again in the afternoon, the strongman competition runs through the evening, and the park turns into an island party with food, music, dancers and a fire knife performance. A movie on the big screen at Heritage Park closes the night.
Saturday is Celebration Day, and it is enormous. It starts with the 5K, then the Grand Parade in the morning, followed by the mayor's welcome and the presentation of the grand marshals. From there the day fans out into the Highland Games, a vendor fair and food trucks, a kids market and Kids Zone, an antique tractor display, cabin tours and a historical museum, a library book sale, the fine art show, tarp fishing, a pie eating contest, swing dancing and a stage of local entertainment. Two concerts carry the evening, and the fireworks finale ends the Fling.
Kickoff Night
Thursday is the neighborhood night of the Fling, when most of the crowd is from Highland and the events are about playing rather than watching.
The car show brings classic and custom vehicles to the park for the evening. The firefighters' fundraiser is a longtime favorite: a simple dinner of hot dogs or hamburgers with chips, dessert and a drink, with proceeds going to the fire department, and a dunk tank where a dollar buys a chance to send a firefighter into the water.
The sports are open to everyone. The home run derby, hosted by a local youth baseball team at Grant Cooper Field in Highland Family Park, has divisions for all ages, requires batting helmets for anyone under 18 and takes walk-up entries shortly before the start. The kickball game is pure drop-in: show up, get put on a team and play, with a round for children from 6 to 12 and then one for teens and adults. The pickleball tournament, one of the busiest events of the week, runs all three days with youth, women's, men's and mixed doubles.
Luau Night
Friday evening is the Fling's most unexpected tradition, a luau in a Utah mountain town. The park fills with Hawaiian-inspired food from island food trucks, festive booths, lei making and airbrush tattoos, and photo stops with costumed island characters. There are hula hoop and limbo contests, live Hawaiian music plays through the evening, island dancers perform, and the night builds to a fire knife dance.
The city is clear that no tickets are needed to attend; the food is sold by the vendors. After the luau, the Friday movie plays at Heritage Park, so bring blankets or lawn chairs and plan to stay into the dark.
Celebration Day
Saturday is when the whole city turns out, and it rewards arriving early.
The 5K and a half-mile fun run start at Highland Family Park near the baseball field first thing in the morning, with early registration cheaper than signing up on the day. The Grand Parade follows in the morning, and afterward the mayor welcomes the crowd and the city presents the year's grand marshals, residents chosen for their service to the community.
Through the middle of the day, the festival grounds become a small-town fair. The vendor fair and food trucks run from morning until dark. The Kids Zone is free, with inflatables and face painting, and the kids market gives young entrepreneurs their own booths for handmade goods. An antique tractor display lines up old machinery, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers open their cabin for tours, the historical museum opens its doors, and the library holds a book sale. Afternoons bring a pie eating contest, swing dancing and performers on the stage.
The evening is a concert in the park. In 2026 it started with the high-energy bluegrass of Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband and continued with a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and then the fireworks finale closed the Fling.
The Highland Games
The Highland Games are the Fling's link to its name. They run through the Saturday daytime, and they are staged with the Utah Heavy Athletics athletes, who compete in the traditional events of a Scottish games: the caber toss, where a competitor flips a long wooden pole end over end, the weight for height, the stone put and the weight for distance. The Fling has also hosted a state hammer championship.
For spectators it is one of the best shows of the summer. The athletes are strong, the implements are heavy, and the scoring is easy to follow even if you have never seen a caber before. Find a spot with a clear view of the throwing area, and bring shade; the games run through the hottest part of the day.
Tarp Fishing
Tarp fishing is exactly what it sounds like. The organizers build a giant pool out of a tarp, fill it with water and live fish, and let participants climb in and try to catch one with their bare hands. It is chaotic, wet and very popular, and the city bills it as one of the Fling's most unique traditions.
Spots are limited, with 200 available in 2026, and they go first come, first served, so line up before the start if your children want a turn. Each participant can catch one fish, which goes home in a water-filled bag. Plan for what happens to the fish afterward before you get in line.
The Strongman Competition
The annual strongman competition runs on the Friday afternoon and evening. The athletes take on feats of strength that look impossible, and watching is free. Competitors register online in advance. It pairs well with the luau, which starts in the same window, and with Saturday's Highland Games, for anyone who wants a full weekend of watching very strong people do very hard things.
The Fine Art Show
The Highland City Arts Council organizes a fine art show for the Fling, displayed at the city's community center on Friday and Saturday. Local artists show their work, and participating artists and their families are invited to an opening reception on the Wednesday evening before the celebration. It is a quiet, indoor counterweight to the rest of the Fling, and a good stop in the middle of a hot Saturday.
The Medallion Hunt
The medallion hunt runs across all three days. A special Highland Fling medallion is hidden somewhere on public land within the city, and each morning a new clue appears on the Fling's official social media. The finder takes home the medallion and a cash prize, $200 in 2026. It sends families out onto Highland's parks and trails with fresh eyes, which is rather the point.
Local History at the Fling
The Fling makes room for Highland's past. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers open their cabin for tours on the Saturday, and the local historical society opens its museum. The 2026 grand marshals were longtime residents, a former mayor and his wife, and the city's profile of them credits her with seven years chairing the Highland Fling Baby Celebration, which it calls one of Highland's most cherished traditions.
What It Costs
Most of the Highland Fling costs nothing to attend. The city lists no admission charge for the parade, the movie, the Kids Zone, the art show or the fireworks, says no tickets are needed for the luau, and makes the strongman competition free for spectators.
The costs come from food and from taking part. The firefighters' dinners and the dunk tank raise money for the fire department. Tarp fishing charges a small fee per participant. The 5K has tiered registration that rises closer to race day, and the pickleball tournament, home run derby and strongman competition all have entry fees. The food trucks and vendors charge what they charge. There is no ride carnival, so there is no wristband to budget for.
Planning It by Age
Young children will want the Kids Zone, the kickball round for 6- to 12-year-olds, the hula hoop and limbo contests at the luau, and tarp fishing if they do not mind getting soaked. The movie and the fireworks run late, so pace the Saturday.
Older children and teens get the medallion hunt, the home run derby, the kids market and the teen and adult kickball game. Many of them will also enjoy the strongman competition and the Highland Games more than they expect.
Adults tend to gravitate to the car show, the Highland Games, the fine art show, the concerts and the firefighters' dinner, and there are pickleball, disc golf, horseshoe and running events for anyone who wants to compete.
History buffs should plan the Saturday around the pioneer cabin tours and the historical museum, both open only for part of the day.
Getting There and Parking
Highland sits in the northeast corner of Utah County, between American Fork, Alpine, Cedar Hills and Lehi, near the mouth of American Fork Canyon. From Provo it is roughly a half-hour drive by freeway. Heritage Park sits on Alpine Highway at 10400 North, and Highland Family Park is a short drive west along the same road, with Beacon Hill Park and the community center nearby. Cedar Hills' own early-June celebration is covered in our Cedar Hills Family Festival guide.
The two crowded moments are the Saturday parade in the morning and the Saturday concert and fireworks at night. Arrive early for both, park legally in the lots and on nearby streets, and expect to walk.
How It Compares
The Fling is one of the summer's small-city celebrations, and our guide to the small-city celebration circuit compares it with its neighbors. It comes at the very end of July, just before the early-August stretch that brings Lindon Days and Salem Days, so in some years its Saturday lands on the opening weekend of those celebrations. Neighboring Alpine Days comes next on the calendar.
Its character is its own. Where Lindon and Salem each include a junior rodeo, Highland builds its Saturday around Scottish athletics and adds a luau night. For a whole festival devoted to Scottish heritage, the Payson Scottish Festival is the valley's dedicated Celtic celebration. The festivals hub collects the full calendar, and the festival and celebration finder filters it by month, city and features such as parades and fireworks. For more to do in this corner of the valley, see our guide to things to do on the north bench.
Making a Day of It
The Saturday is long enough that it helps to have a plan, and the program lends itself to one. Start with the parade in the morning and stay for the welcome and the grand marshals, then drift over to the Highland Games while the athletes are fresh and the throws are at their best. Line up for tarp fishing before it opens if your children want a turn, because the places go quickly, and let them change into dry clothes afterward.
The early afternoon is the hottest part of the day, so it is the time for the indoor art show, the library book sale and the historical museum and cabin tours, which close earlier than the rest of the program. Eat from the food trucks in the late afternoon, before the lines build, then claim a spot on the grass for the evening concert. Bring layers, because even a hot July day cools off once the sun goes down, and stay put for the fireworks. Families who want a shorter day can skip the morning entirely and come for the concert and fireworks alone, which is how many visitors from outside Highland do it.
Taking Part
The Highland Fling runs on volunteers, and the city actively recruits them to help with activities, the parade and events. Businesses and groups can enter the parade by contacting the parade committee, vendors apply for the vendor fair, children apply for booths at the kids market, and artists enter the fine art show through the arts council. Runners register for the 5K, athletes for the strongman competition, and players for the pickleball, disc golf, horseshoe and home run derby events.
The city's Highland Fling page lists registration deadlines each summer, and several events have limited places, so check it in early July.
A Few Practical Tips
Late July in Utah County is hot, and the Fling's biggest day is a long outdoor Saturday. Bring water, hats and sunscreen, and plan a break at the indoor art show in the middle of the afternoon. Evening thunderstorms and wildfire smoke can both affect outdoor events in late summer, so check the forecast.
Follow the Fling on social media during the three days; that is where the medallion clues appear and where the city posts any changes. Bring blankets or low chairs for the movie and the concert, a towel and a change of clothes if your children are doing tarp fishing, and cash for the vendors and the dunk tank.
The Short Version
The Highland Fling is Highland's city celebration at the end of July, now a three-day run from a Thursday kickoff night to a Saturday finale. Thursday brings a car show, a firefighters' dinner and dunk tank and neighborhood sports, Friday a luau with a fire knife dance, a strongman competition and a movie, and Saturday a morning parade, Scottish Highland Games, tarp fishing, a fine art show, two concerts and fireworks. Most of it is free, and nowhere else in the county combines caber tossing with a luau.
Related Guides
- The Small-City Celebration Circuit
- Festivals and Celebrations in Utah County
- Festival and Celebration Finder
- Lindon Days
- Salem Days
- Payson Scottish Festival
- Things to Do on the North Bench
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