Scottish Festival features kilts, bagpipes and more

There's something about a warm summer evening that just makes a guy want to slip into his kilt, listen to a little bagpipe music and practice tossing haggis around a field.

That wasn't quite the official theme Friday - but it was close - when the 31st annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games returned to Hamilton Lakes in Itasca.

The celebration also features, among other things, a British car show, Celtic music and dancing, rugby, soccer, dog agility demonstrations and "heavy athletic" competitions where really big guys throw hammers and poles around in a way that would send most of the rest of us mere mortals directly to the chiropractor without a chance to take in the fest's whiskey master class.

The yearly peek at Highland culture is sponsored by the Chicago Scots and continues from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at 1 Pierce Plaza in Itasca. Saturday tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $8 for kids ages 4 through 12. For details, visit chicagoscots.org.

"We're a unique event," Gus Noble, Chicago Scots president, said in the days leading up to the event. "This is an opportunity to make good on our cultural mission."

It's also an opportunity for those so inclined to delve into the depths of their closets and find those kilts and bagpipes.