Get out your kilt: Highland Games open in Wheaton
The organizers of the Highland Games, now underway in Wheaton, welcome people of Scottish ancestry and those who have never set foot on the wild moors of Scotland.
The latter group, as Chicago Scots President Gus Noble would say in his brogue, become “Scottish by inclination” celebrating his homeland during the two-day festival this Father’s Day weekend at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.
The event combines culture and sport: heavy athletics, piping and drumming, dancing and some newer traditions. In one particular hurling contest, competitors throw a frozen, 1-pound haggis — it’s better you don’t know what’s in it — as far as possible while teetering on a half whisky (that’s the Scottish, not Irish, spelling) barrel.
The Games opened Friday afternoon in a new arena — the county fairgrounds — after years in Itasca. The festival continues with the parade of tartans, a car show and Celtic rock band Seven Nations performing at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday.
The Highland Games are staged by and for the Chicago Scots, formerly known as the Illinois St. Andrew Society. All proceeds from the Games support Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care.
For a full entertainment lineup, visit chicagoscots.org.