Photo courtesy of Lora Gordon/Radford University

The 11th annual Highlanders Festival drew a crowd to Radford University. This year's festival will have a record 64 vendors at the Scottish-Irish heritage event.

RADFORD -- Despite scheduling conflicts, this year may be the biggest Radford Highlanders Festival yet.

There are still a record 64 vendors, nonprofit organizations and clans attending the Scottish-Irish heritage festival, according to Becky Haupt, executive director of Main Street Radford.

"This is going to be a very packed event," said Bonnie Roberts Erickson, publications editor for Radford University and a festival coordinator.

This year's Highlander Festival was moved to this weekend from a later weekend in October. A similar event, the Williamsburg Scottish Festival, was also moved to this weekend, creating a potential conflict with participants who might have attended both festivals.

"We moved without consulting them, and they moved without talking to us," Erickson said. "Next year, we'll be in better contact with Williamsburg."

The festival again falls on the same weekend as the university's family weekend and Appalachian Folk Arts Festival.

Highlander Festival events include a Scotch tasting, 5K run, heavyweight games, music and a Scottish clan gathering.

Coordinators stopped accepting vendors Friday because there was no more space for them on Moffett Field, where the event is held, Haupt said.

"It just brings such an influx of people into the city," Haupt said. "It brings alumni back, and it's such a nice time to be in the area and catch up on what's happening on campus."

It also brings local people into downtown Radford and into stores they may have forgotten about or never been in, she said.

The festival is a collaboration between the city and Radford University. Erickson declined to say how much revenue is generated by the festival, only saying it was self-sustaining.

Estimates of attendees last year range between 10,000 and 12,000 people, Haupt said.

"This is a big event for a town this size," Erickson said.

Radford Highlanders Festival

The festivities get under way at 7 p.m. Friday with Taste of the Highlands, a malt scotch tasting event, at the Ken Farmer Auction House. Tickets are $35.

Check-in for the 5K run starts at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Have a $6 pancake breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the farmers market parking lot on East Main Street.

The Heavyweight Games run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Radford University’s Moffett Field.

The festival itself runs from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Moffett and Heth fields on campus. Children’s activities will be offered from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A parade celebrating the beginning of Radford’s Centennial Year starts at 11 a.m. and runs from East Main Street to Tyler Avenue to Moffett Field.

Radford’s downtown merchants will have sidewalk sales beginning at 11 a.m.

For a full listing of events, visit runet.edu/festival/pages/schedule.html