📙 Part 2: Describe a traditional festival in your country

This episode's vocabulary

To be thin on the ground (idiom) - to exist only in small numbers or amounts.

To showcase (verb) - to show the best qualities or parts of something.

Prowess (noun) - great ability or skill.

To peddle (verb) - to sell things, especially by taking them to different places.

Mainstay (noun) - the most important part of something, providing support for everything else.

Shot put (noun) - a sports competition in which a heavy metal ball is thrown from the shoulder as far as possible.

Commonality (noun) - the fact of sharing interests, experiences, or other characteristics with someone or something

Gist (noun) - the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details.

For one (idiom) - used to say that you think your opinion or action is right, even if others do not.

To float around (phrasal verb) - to not be in any specific location.

Questions and Answers

M: Tell us all about it.

R: I'm afraid my knowledge of national festivals is a bit thin on the ground, to be honest. I'm much more interested in other people's countries than my own. However, there is one event in particular that sticks out in my mind. It's called the Highland Games and it's like a traditional festival showcasing Scottish culture and sporting prowess that happens in a few different places. Usually in the summertime. Though I'll confess, I've never been to one since I think it's a bit boring. To go into greater depth about what the festival is about. I think you can probably guess from the title it's about different Scottish sports and achievements in them. Around the main events, there will be people peddling various locally produced goods and services. There are mainstays like the Caber toss, which is when large men throw big bits of trees around and the shot put, where large men throw metal balls around. All in the comfort of kilts, naturally. When it comes to where and when it's held, it's actually something that's held all over Scotland by different communities, though, usually in the summer. And with a few other commonalities. The whole idea is showing off your sporting prowess in the sunshine surrounded by aspects of Scottish culture, like the food and music. I'm probably oversimplifying a bit because I've never actually been to one. But that's about the gist of it, to be honest with you. To say more about what happens at the festival, I think I've already gone into enough detail about the sport side of things. But there's also traditional Scottish country dancing with groups of people and a band, and more specialized dances, like sword dancing, which I think is done by one person and someone else playing the bagpipes. It sounds more dangerous than it actually is, to be honest. It's just someone dancing around a pair of swords trying not to hit them and win good luck if they succeed. In terms of whether or not I enjoy the festival, I can't actually say with any certainty, since I've never been. However, I think I'd like it as long as the weather was nice. I can't imagine it's much fun in the rain. If we didn't have this festival, then, well, I wouldn't have anything to talk about for one. And I think things would be much duller for any tourists floating around the country in the summer.

M: And do you think you'll visit this festival anytime soon?

R: Not in the near future. No.