Festival includes musicians, dancers

The Utah Scottish Association is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. In addition to the athletic competitions, the festival will offer food, entertainment, 40 clan booths and history information, a display of British cars, historic displays and demonstrations, a shortbread contest, vendors and more. Special features include:

Romilly Squire — deputy secretary of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and one of Scotland's finest heraldry artists, will discuss clans, arms and crests and other aspects of heraldry as well as his art and expertise at a free lecture Thursday, 7:30 p.m., in the Utah Room of the Watertower Center.

The Wicked Tinkers — based in Los Angeles, this group offers "the kind of music you might have heard hundreds of years ago at a Scottish wedding, ceilidh or around the campfire of a Highland raiding party with pipes, drums, the Bronze-age Celtic horn and other authentic instruments. Other featured musicians include Scottish Wild Rockin, Men of Worth, Callenish, the Salt Lake Pipers Club and Dorian Mirth.

Highland Dance — competitions include such dances as the:

• Sword Dance, traditionally performed by the Highland warriors on the eve of battle and said to have originated in 1054 when King Malcolm Canmore clashed with one of Macbeth's chiefs.

• Sean Triubhas (pronounced sheen trews), the Gaelic words for "old trousers," the dance celebrates the lifting of the laws that forbade the wearing of the kilt and symbolizes the kicking off of the hated trousers.

• Highland Fling, probably the most famous of the dances and said to have been originally performed by Highland warriors after battle. The dance is performed on the same spot throughout because the warriors performed it on their leather-covered shields.

Bagpipes — nothing evokes the spirit of the Highlands more than the sound of bagpipes, which actually trace their pedigree back 4,500 years to Asia Minor. Crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought them back to the British Isles, where they were adopted by Scottish clans and became a rallying point in battle. Competitions and performances will be held throughout the day on Saturday. A Tattoo, an extravaganza of music, dance and fireworks will be held Friday night.

The festival is sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association with the Hibernian Society, British Isles Association, St. Andrews Society, Payson Highland Festival, LDS Family History, Sorensen DNA, British Car Association, Scottish-American Military Society, and the Salt Lake Piping Club.