It was a fun way to learn a bit about Scottish culture. I can't wait until next year!

Recently relocated back to Long Beach and 2014 was my first year attending Scotsfest at the Queen Mary. The fest flowed well with where the games where located, vendors area and competitions. The best part was once you were done with the fest you got the opportunity to explore the ship as well. It was like a 2 for 1. The ship has so much history (which you dont need to purchase a tour to learn about) and it was great to get out of the sun and enjoy the beautiful view from the South side of the ship. I still attend the Scotsfest at the OC fairgrounds on Memorial weekend but the Queen Mary has won me over as my fav location! Keep it up! read more

Overall a very fun experience! I got the VIP pass, and highly recommend it for when the clans do the parade and watching the sporting events. Definitely looking forward to the next one! read more

Great show. Lot's of fun. Good variety of entertainment. Vendors for shopping , food , lot's of music. Whiskey tasting. Plus you get to see the Queen Mary. read more

It was pretty great overall, the games were definitely the center and highlight of the events, for me. I went mainly for a new experience and because my companion is of Scottish heritage. She was very interested in the history of her family names, and one of the booths had access to some historic records that peaked her interest. It was great seeing her excitement, which pretty much made the event for me. I enjoyed trying haggis for the first time, and also getting access to the nearby Queen Mary. The biggest two gripes I had were the gunnery displays which, while interesting and entertaining initially, got old quickly and made many visitors somewhat tense given its suddenness and noise. Secondly, the event planners seemed to drop the ball on food vendors and pricing. There was one or two stalls with hamburgers and chicken kabob things that looked delicious, but priced way beyond reasonable ($15-17 for a basic kabob plate is a bit crazy). The repercussions of this pricing issue was obvious, as another stall had a roughly hour-long line for Scottish plates (shepard's pie, bangers and mash) which came with bacon-grease fried cabbage and two sugar cookie. These were priced between $9 and $13 which was far more reasonable for the amount of food. The lines were so long and this particular stall only had one window taking orders, but I cannot fault them directly as they probably were not expecting that level of interest all at once. I am not opposed to the mark-up for such event food vendors, but unreasonable mark-up is just a bit greedy. I loved the series of highland game events that went on throughout the day. The field was a little small for all the different activities, and sometimes I feared someone could get seriously injured, given the weight of the objects being thrown. I was particularly interested in the ladies' events, which pretty much matched the mens' events exactly (with some adjustments). There were several ranks of competitors, and I found myself cheering for a few of my new favorite athletes. Even got to see a caber get split in two after it was tossed, which was pretty neat. There was a nearby fenced area for "VIP" ticket holders that offered two free drinks and a nice outdoor seating area that was great for viewing the games. This more than covered the difference in pricing, as one normal drink ranged from $6-$11, while the price difference was something like $10. The variety of booths was great, and the bagpipe parades were an enjoyable, obligatory aspect of the event. The evening concert was pretty good, the talent was great, but the sound systems were a little wonky. The venue was very intimate and the volume was a little too much for my tastes (maybe I'm just picky?). I loved that the sets were dance-able, and several couples and groups got up to take advantage of that. It was overall a very enjoyable experience and definitely worthwhile. read more

Save your time and your money. The event is so poorly organized. We won't be back next year.

It's hard to believe this event has been going on for twenty years considering how slapdash it seems to be thrown together and poorly managed. And a six-hour rock concert (Rock Yer Kilt) with NO food available, only booze? Recipe for disaster. Only two food stands and the lines were immense and one of them ran out of food at 1pm. I realize the Queen Mary has a Scottish past but really, the venue is just way too small to put on anything worth the money but for cryin' out loud, I could have done a better job and I have zero experience in putting on an event of this type. Absolutely shameful. read more

Wow. What a shit-show. Parking is a total fiasco. Traffic backed up outside the main gate to the Queen Mary, with an angry parking attendant yelling at drivers, asking, "Why are you all in one lane?" when the overhead sign is directing us to...you guessed it....one lane! Finally traffic starts moving and we are directed into the parking lot. I follow the traffic toward the ship, then to our left and back out onto the causeway! I saw one or two directional signs that led us like a flock of sheep all the way back into downtown Long Beach. Oh hell no! That's nowhere close to the event site. I called it quits and drove home. A complete waste of my time and money. I paid for my ticket online and lost out on $30. I should have heeded the warning I read on Goldstar's website, written by another disgruntled person, that said, 'don't waste your time!' I couldn't agree more. I should call KTLA and tell them to stop featuring it as something to attend. The event organizers should be ashamed of hosting this yearly farce. Here's hoping it just pours down rain tomorrow and they lose lots of money. read more

As a vendor selling musical gifts my ONLY problem was the noise. The combination of the Queen being a wall of iron and the nearby BAGPIPES was deafening at times. Either put the crafts further out with the food booths or tell the pipers to keep a decent distance. Everything else was fine. read more

There was a lot to see and do. We go to the one in Costa Mesa every year, and decided to try this one this year also, and I was happy we did. Parking was a bit pricey, and we had a groupon for admission so it was definitely worth it. Not sure if it was good enough to go back, but it has the games, food, and beer that is traditional for this type of festival, however the one in Costa Mesa is better. read more

This 2018 event has degraded to the point of "no return". Literally, don't even bother next year. They make you wait in line to park, charge $20, then tell you the lot is full and you have to park in downtown Long Beach. They don't even give a map of where you are to drive to find the parking lot. Save your money and go to Costa Mesa Scots festival, much better all around: more clans, bands, booths, and fun. read more

Enjoyed this event very much. Looking forward to next year. My only complaints: 1) More seating where the entertainment was. Love 1916 and Sligo Rags, but it would have been nice to sit in a chair. 2) Saturday night concert. The room where Bricktop Blaggers and Stand Easy were performing was way too loud. 1916 sounded great but again it would have been great to have some chairs. Loved the VIP beer tent. Overall had a great time. read more

This was a first for myself, I enjoyed it. I did both the beer and whiskey tasting. It was informative as well as fun. I did some friends and we all are looking forward to February. Kelly S. read more

Every year I have a great time at the festival. This time did the whiskey tasting, it was great learning something new. Each year the festival get more and more enjoyable. You should do this at least once in your lifetime. read more

We had the most fun at this particular festival as we saw/did things that we haven't done at previous festivals, such as being present for the presentation of the Haggis (awesome!), archery, dancing with the country dance club, etc. The couple on stilts who greeted and chatted us up upon our arrival were a HOOT!! Loved them! The only negative, and a shocking one it is, is that the food booths had no Haggis--what?! It was gone when we came back from watching the Haggis presentation. Also, so bummed that the lovely people who got me hooked on their outrageously scrumptious Ginger Lassies are no longer in business. I almost cried. Nevertheless, a great day for our group of 6 adults! read more

Each year I make a point to attend Scotsfest at the Queen Mary. I was born in Long Beach, my dad was transported on board the Queen Mary during WWII and our family belongs to the Ferguson clan -- what better reasons to enjoy this event? The music is sensational, I love highland dancing and the atmosphere on board is magnificent. Why don't they also celebrate Robert Burns' night at the Queen Mary? D. Rush read more

I have attended the Scottish Festival 3 years in a row. I love It. I do, however, remember being able to prepay for your ticket, a meat pie, and a beer. There was a special VIP line for that. I didn't see that this year. It's too bad because the lines were quite long. All in all, my family and I had a great time watching the competitions,shopping and walking around on the Queen Mary. Love the bagpipes and kilts!! read more

I had so much fun at the Games this year. It's the first of the long list of games that happen through the year to November and I had a great time. It was a bit cramped since the heavy athletics, herding demos and living history group are no longer in the grassy area at the end of the parking lot. I thought the kids really enjoyed the bounce house but it may not have been big enough for all the kids who came. I also liked the static decorations of the suits of armor and knights, and even had my picture taken on the throne set up behind the village. In the past that stand back there was set up to serve food, you should think about opening it up again. One suggestion is if you are going to line up all the bands in one row, give us more room. It's amazing how much room is needed for all the drums, cases, pipe racks, chairs and tables that are needed even for a small band. The avenue was not wide enough to accommodate the larger bands and we all need space to warm up the pipes, get tuned and line up. You might ask some of the participating bands if they liked being set up behind the village better than by the vendors. I hate to take up more parking spaces because we were already backed up to the curb but one more row with the band tents would have helped immensely. It would also distance the loud pipes from the vendors when we are warming up and tuning. The bands have also set up around the dome in the past and we could make loud noises without disturbing anyone over there too. I hope next year we have as beautiful weather as we had this year and I am looking forward to returning. Thanks read more

As an athlete that competed in the games, the process for signing up was cumbersome. Usually the sign up process is through SAAA, but the website process linked us to the Queen Mary page to pay. The cost is more than most games and my payment was made in advace, but my entrance to the games was not made known to the front desk. All was well in the end and the games were great. I wish that payment for our competition could be made as always through the SAAA organization. read more

What a nightmare! On the February 15-16 2020 festival, the parking was abhorrent. We arrived before the 9:00 AM opening to limit the trek from the lot to the festival. Not only were visitors charged $20 to park, but there was little coordination, which resulted in a chaotic drive all over the place. I took my 92 year old mother, and am temporarily using a cane myself, and there were only 5 or so handicapped spaces, all of which were occupied, for the thousands of people in attendance. We asked for help and were assured there were additional handicap spaces, but found we had been misinformed. Then, the queue line was held up, even for prepaid ticket holders, for more than 30 minutes. There was no separation among those who had prepaid vs those who wanted to buy tickets, and far too few event staff to process the line (only three for the time we waited). Once inside, the shopping experience was nice enough unless you bought food: there were no trash cans anywhere! The Gold Star Event company, which managed the festival, failed at every aspect. Even the online ticketing was a pain. The vouchers we printed had formatting issues that caused the letter "d" to not print anywhere. Then, the confirmation of the purchase, which was made two weeks in advance indicated we MIGHT ("depending on the event") receive tickets to print, but none were received until the day of the event. We had already printed the confirmation voucher, and took that to the venue as we didn't check email that morning before leaving. Then we were hassled at the entrance when we finally got to the head of the line! Lastly, seating was sparse and shaded seating nonexistent. NEVER AGAIN. read more

Being of Scottish heritage, I enjoyed it very much. We always enjoy the parade of the clans and bagpipes. Having access to the Queen Mary is a big plus. I agree with other reviews that there should be more shaded viewing areas. read more

I've been to this Scotsfestival before and it was always fantastic however this last experience has completely altered my opinion and I will not be going back. I knew the parking was going to be a problem so I parked in downtown and took the free bus in. All smooth sailing until security. There I was told for the first time that metal water bottles/hydroflasks where not allowed in. This was wildly frustrating as nothing I saw online nor anywhere else had stated this policy. As the bottle was not mine I was forced to either return it to my car or forgo the event. As I had already paid for a ticketed I had to take the 45 minute bus ride back to my car. I was unable to take the return bus as they were all full and so I had to pay for a rideshare to return to the Queen Mary. Almost 2 hours after reaching security for the 1st time I went through it again and heard to my utter horror and dismay that they were now letting in metal water battles. I had undergone a HUGE waste of time and spent extra money (the rideshare) to attend the event only to find out in the end the policy was changed! I would give 1 star but the games, food, and merchandise were all top quality as usually though they definitely needed more food vendors as lines were WAY too long. Shame on you security. Do your job right. read more

I saw in recent advertisements that this event is coming up, so I have to give warning to those thinking of attending this for the 1st time, what my impression was and to stay away in my opinion. I was drawn in to go here last year because I wanted to try the ethnic food, in particular the haggis. This is sheep heart, liver, lungs incased inside a sheep stomach from my understanding. Well there was only one food booth to get this at and the line was always too long. But even worse is that if you passed by the booth it smelled like a civil war battlefield hospital tent at high noon, or maybe a rotting whale carcass. I lost my appetite immediately. The other food offered was also pretty lame and expensive. The next worse thing is looking at a whole bunch of dudes, mostly old farts, in mini skirts, I mean kilts. There were some really raunchy legs strutting about. There were a whole bunch of tents for clans or families. So I guess if your into genealogy and your Scottish, you may find this part interesting. Not this McCracken. Then there was supposed to be these cultural games being played. Also very boring. Dudes throwing a hay bale over a high beam and throwing a large hammer or something for distance. The games just moved along too slow to be interesting. And there was one person who looked like a big dressed up Scotsman but was clearly female if you get my drift. Next they also advertised that they would have samplings of Scotch. Well there was a tent for that but they had like 4 not so good varieties, of which you got a thimble of for a hefty price. I at least wanted to see the native dance stuff because I knew I would enjoy this. It's kind of like that river dance stuff. The only problem was they never put up a schedule to see the dancing, so I could never know when there was a show. About the only thing I liked was when some military regiment held a demonstration and fired off some canons and a Gatling gun. And as is the norm for any festival, there were hoards of vendors peddling all kinds of useless stuff. So for the price of admission and parking, your better off taking yourself and a friend to an authentic restaurant instead. read more

This event was a 1-&-done deal for me. Tick off the Bucket List. Found my Clan booth, got some info., bought a few trinkets with my family crest(fair pricing for made in China). 2 food vendor: #1=nachos/sausage, #2="authentic" Scots fair. Had an expensive Scots pie; Banquet makes a better pie. Could'nt even enjoy a beer; cost-prohibitive. Whiskey offered for a price & mostly store-available Clan MacGregor shite. Enjoyed Bagpipe & March of the Guard parade. Got bored with the lackluster Highland games. Didn't wait around for bands or night events. Was done in 90 minutes after a little jewelry shopping stuck in the back of venue. With the price if the ticket(~&30) & parking($15), the Queen Mary was open for a walkabout. If you have to go just once, pre-shop on Groupon or other site for hefty discounts. Parking detoured to 4 or 5-level parking garage & prepare to climb those stairs because I couldn't locate an elevator near my parking spot on the top level. Won't return. read more

A full, fun family day! My son participated in the Bagpiping competitions. We enjoyed lunch while watching the games. Wish that their was more shaded seating and more food choices (especially gluten-free!). We are glad we pre-paid for parking and saved a bit. Look forward to next year. read more

The only clomplaint was that the bagpipes parade stopped playing before getting past all the crowd

Parking. I understand that it is an event rate but $20 for parking an hour and a half? $5 for parking 59 minutes but one minute over and its $20. Not only that the price was a complete rip off, i was guided to park inside a park, on top of grass. The logic of charging $20 to park for an hour and a half and not even providing a decent parking lot is beyond terrible. I also want to add that leaving the "parking lot" was confusing because they didnt bother to put enough signs and staff members that guided the way out. I enjoyed the halloween event but i probably would never be going back to queen mary unless i get a decent explanation on why they think it is acceptable to charge a ridiculous price with ridiculous service to their customers. read more

The cost of these games is ridiculous. You need to reduce this fee. $20 to park and $35 for senior entrance is out of control.I have been going for 25 years and do not find that the games are worth the cost this year ,but I love my heritage and I was married aboard the Queen Mary. I heard at least 5 people say the cost was too high and they would not return. Other games have a reasonable cost $5.oo to park, $25 enhance fees. The organization of getting in has been a cluster mess for years. You have not found key yet. Waiting to get in at 9am when there is dancing starting at 830 and you can't get in, especially when family is dancing . Not good. One lady missed her granddaughter dancing while she waited in line to get in at 9am. This year was a disappointment. No LA scottish fiddlers, only one rock/folk band, couldn't find the the haggis ceremony at all, a number of bands that were NO SHOWS apparently , not much for the clans a few no shows there too.. such a shame. At least you didn't charge for the program !! The ship looks like crap but at least you are trying to fix it up. Very sad to see the disrepair. So much worse than last year. If you charged less you may get more volume and repeat customers. Working staff didn't seem to know what was going on if you asked them a question. Someone needs to reassess what you are planning for next year and hopefully do it better. Costa mesa Game and Ventura games are better organized . read more

I thoroughly enjoyed the Queen Mary Games, again! I especially like having the clans aboard ship. The Sunday brunch is without equal.

I love the ScotsFestival, but the last few years not so much. The music has changed for the worse. Men of Worth was always to a packed house in the Theater - a huge highlight. Then they were moved to the bar where no one paid attention. It was an insult. And now they're totally gone. What??? Why??? We loved Brother when we first heard them on board the ship. They disappeared after a few years - we were told they were too loud. Loud and wonderful!!! We have all their CDs, and would like to see them return. We are 17 year veterans of ScotsFestival, and have seen it diminish each year. The vendors should be back on the ship, as should the meat pies and many more stations for food. The waits for food were close to an hour. Please bring it back to its prime. A friend who lives in Scotland says that ScotsFestival is better than those in Scotland, and we agree from the few we went to there. Please bring it back to its former glory. Thanks. read more

Question rather than a review. About noon on the 18th a group with a lively female vocalist was performing folk music in the pavillon. My daughter and I both loved their music. We tried to catch the name but couldn't, then looked around hoping to find a CD but couldn't. Hoping to learn who they were. read more

We have travelled twice from Canada for the Highland Dancing Championships - which are top notch!

This was our first time attending a ScotsFestival and we are completely hooked! My son was so excited about learning about our Scottish heritage that we had a kilt made for him from one of the amazing vendors we met. She is a real pro! The dogs were exciting to watch, and we truly loved the Kids' Highland Games and the quests that "Queen Mary" sent the kids on. The music....the vendors....the games.....what a wonderful experience!! We have attended 2 more ScotsFestivals since then and will be attending again every year!! read more

I look forward to spending time on the Queen Mary every year in February for the Scottish Festival. It is especially wonderful when it coincides with Valentines Day. The ship has a nostalgic flavor of the 30's and 40's and it feels as if you have been transported through time into another world of glamour and riches. It is a very special place. read more

I contacted customer services (who had reached out after reading my review). They were very gracious in compensating me for my time.

My husband and I just moved to Long Beach, and he is from Scotland. This was the first big community event we were a part of and he really felt at home. He was a little disappointed with the caliber of pipe bands because he is used to hearing Level 2s and 1s in the Glasgow world pipe band championships. Also lines for the food vendors were VERY long so we actually ended up dining inside the Queen Mary. I definitely think the value of this festival is partly to do with the included benefit of exploring this beautiful ship. You're not allowed into the tours but you can explore the deck and there are events going on throughout the ship. While I enjoyed the festival I think my husband will prefer to go to scots festivals that draw better pipe bands. Still, if you like scottish culture and want to check the Queen Mary off the list of things to do in Long Beach, this is a great way to spend a weekend! read more

rock yer kilt only 1 hall with live music at 7pm opening 13 feb 15 very few seats majority of crowd standing . don't know why they bother put the whole show on sat and sunday only. parking was 5 dollars 4 rock yer kilt only fri. parking was 15 dollars sat or sunday. passport service not good 40 minutes waiting at ist departure stop from queen mary line for bus was huge and then 2 passport buses showed? passport bus going to queen mary was ok scots fest not enough live concerts read more

My first year attending the ScotsFest and I thought it was really fun. We arrived early, parked and got in, no problem. The athletes were fun to watch, there were lots of people in kilts of course, and I bought my first kilt there for $35. The manly men with their muscular physiques, beards, and kilts throwing heavy objects on the turf were a turn on. One just doesn't see that in Southern Cal normally. ;) The meat pies were awesome, we bought several of them and some haggis (an acquired taste maybe). I thought the prices were fair and the lines moved along pretty well. I highly recommend the whisky tasting--it was only $18 for five whiskys and a funny presentation from a charming, knowledgeable Scot. The sound of bagpipes coming from somewhere is pretty much constant throughout the day. Definitely going back next year, wearing my kilt. We had to leave before we got around to everything and there is stuff I missed. Would be really fun for a date. read more