Take your pick: Bagpipes, the blues or both

Two major suburban festivals are celebrating milestones this weekend with moves to new locations. The Blues on the Fox festival marks its 15th anniversary with a shift in management and a location closer to the Hollywood Casino in Aurora, while the Scottish Festival and Highland Games leaps from Oak Brook to Itasca in anticipation of future expansion beyond its 25th anniversary this year.

So ... bagpipes or blues?

Sounds of Scotland or the South?

Your call. But there's really no reason you couldn't hit both fests if you're in the mood for music and a whole lot more.

Mad about plaid

Expansion was on the minds of the founders for the Scottish Festival and Highland Games' 25th anniversary, hence the move from the longtime location of the Oak Brook Polo Grounds to Itasca's Hamilton Lakes. The event — the largest Scottish festival in the Midwest — is put together by The Chicago Great Scots, also known as the Illinois St. Andrews Society.

“Much as we loved the location in Oak Brook, the polo grounds were of a finite size and we got to where we had maximized everything at that particular location,” said Chicago Scots president Gus Noble, adding that the festival has historically been staged in multiple venues through the years. “We decided that it was time again for another move so we could continue the path of growth.”

While Itasca residents are used to visiting the mixed-use development Hamilton Lakes for Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks, Noble hopes that Scottish Festival fans will make the move to the new location on the northern edge of DuPage County. In practical Scottish fashion, Noble touts one major benefit from the move.

“We are able to offer on-site parking in concrete facilities,” Noble said. “It's a very important thing seeing as how we've had some awful weather for the last couple of years and it's made for a muddy experience for parking.”

If all goes according to plan in the weather department, Scottish Festival fans will note the larger field space available for the event's tournaments in rugby, kid's soccer and the Heavy Athletics U.S. Open Championships involving centuries-old feats of strength and skill like hurling stones and weights and tossing the iconic telephone pole-sized log known as a caber.

Festival planners admit that there aren't too many new activities on offer this year, since they wanted crowds to get used to their favorite Scottish activities in the new location. So expect more room for competitions in Scottish dancing, bagpipe playing and displays featuring dogs of Scotland, family clan genealogical tents and a British car show.

“We wanted to make the games more of a family event,” said Scottish Festival and Highland Games chairman Todd Oldham, noting that in the past few years the children's area has been expanded to feature bouncy games, miniature golf and even a mini train.

“We really tried to include children into the games so parents could feel very comfortable as they enjoy the more adult activities like the whiskey tent or the heavy athletics and other competitions,” Oldham said.

And Oldham is proud to say that many of the festival's sillier events are back like contests for Knobbly Knees on kilted men and Haggis Eating (quite a feat since haggis consists of the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep mixed with vegetables cooked inside the sheep's intestine).

“We don't take ourselves too seriously,” Oldham said. “We recognize that when most people hear of Scotland, they always think of a guy in a kilt with a golf club in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.”

Bucks for Blues

Top-shelf blues acts are on the bill for the two-day Blues on the Fox festival in downtown Aurora. For its 15th anniversary, performers include Chicago legend Buddy Guy, guitar maestro Robert Cray and harmonica whiz Charlie Musselwhite.

“These are acts that people pay $30 to $50 to see, and here they'll be able to see them for $5,” said Melissa Mercado, marketing director for the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, which organized the festival this year.

The music will have a suburban twist, too, as a group of local musicians known as Made in Aurora will perform between sets for the headlining acts.

Aurora and blues music share a decades-long connection. In the 1930s, many prominent Chicago blues musicians recorded songs in a ballroom in the old Leland Hotel building on Stolp Avenue for the RCA Bluebird record label.

In the ballroom, known then as the Sky Club, hundreds of songs were recorded by John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Big Joe Williams, Roosevelt Sykes, Yank Rachell and others. The recordings were groundbreaking and set the tone for the early urban blues that later became popular and formed the backbone for modern day rock 'n' roll.

This year's festival has a new home — North River Street Park at New York and River streets, just west of the Hollywood Casino and the Fox River.

This is Paramount's first year running the festival. (The theater partnered with Hollywood Casino to book the acts.) In the past, Blues on the Fox was run by the city's office of special events, but that department was eliminated this year in a cost-cutting measure.

“We're very pleased to be continuing this tradition,” Mercado said. “Because we have experience with booking performers, we were able to put together a really strong lineup this year. I encourage everyone to come on out and have a great time!”

<b>25th Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games</b>

<b>When: </b>4 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 17, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 18

<b>Where: </b>Hamilton Lakes, Thorndale Avenue and Route 53, Itasca

<b>Tickets: </b>$12 Friday, kids admitted free; $17 Saturday, $5 for kids ages 3-14; $75 weekend pass with VIP parking

<b>Parking: </b>$5 per day or $8 for a two-day pass

<b>Info: </b>(708) 305 3460 or <a href="http://www.chicago-scots.org" target="_blank">chicago-scots.org</a>

<b>Friday activities include:</b> Highland dance competition, heavy athletics exhibition, Celtic music concert, Ceilidh celebration and more.

<b>Saturday activities include: </b>Heavy Athletics U.S. Open Championship, Supreme Piping and Drumming competition, Highland dance competition, Parade of Clan Tartans, British car show, Kilted Mile Fun Run/Walk, Dogs of Scotland and other animal exhibitions, Rugby Sevens Highland Challenge, youth soccer tournament, closing ceremonies and more.

<b>15th Annual Blues on the Fox festival </b>

<b>When: </b>6 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 17, and 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 18

<b>Where: </b>North River Street Park at New York and River streets (west of Hollywood Casino and the Fox River) in Aurora

<b>Admission: </b>$5

<b>Info: </b>(630) 896-6666 or <a href="http://www.bluesonthefox.com" target="_blank">bluesonthefox.com</a>

<b>Entertainment (Main Stage)</b>

Friday

6:30 p.m.: Eric Lindell

8:30 p.m.: The Robert Cray Band

Saturday

2 p.m.: Hix Brothers Junior All Stars

3 p.m.: Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues

4:45 p.m.: Kenny Neal

6:30 p.m.: Charlie Musselwhite

8:30 p.m.: Buddy Guy