Random thoughts after my first Highland Games

[James Hood]

Many Americans have said it well. 'Have only been to Chicago area festivals, which are 2-day events with about 10-15,000 people on the grounds at average times.

A keeper-in-mind: metro Chicago has twice-plus the population of Scotland. "Very diverse."

Agreed; the athletics are part of it, as are the pipe bands. At the finale there are 1000 pipes and drums on the field.

Food is plentiful, 30 vendors and primarily "Scottish-fast," featuring gobs of "haggis" and bangers and yes, turkey legs and hot dogs and tropical smoothies. HUGE beer tents.

Usually 3 very competent bands playing all but one after the other, both days.

Dancing is off to another area as are a good number of clan tents, a British car show, Dogs of the British Isles, whiskey tasting, soccer and rugby.

The VAST vendor area sells everything from order-your-bespoke kilt to claymores and fantasy cutlery to bagpipes and hose and headwear and CDs and books and kilt pins and shortbread pans and canned haggis and fantasy-Renaissance bustiers and skirts to many, many inexpensive and varied-design kilts and tee shirts and a few sweaters and fresh scones and fancy biscuits and sweets.

Attendees are in all but near-pipe band-formal, to much more numerous $19.95 polyester kilts with pleats in front, concert tee shirt and flip flops. Fantasy Rennies can be semi-armoured and toting around enough hostile cutlery to take on the Orcs and no one seems to care. Many attendees guess is near-oid half, are sorta kilted but in the heat /humidity of Chicago summer (this used to be a pestilential swamp), not a large % are TCHD.

Just one opinion....