Experience Scottish culture without leaving Western Mass. this weekend

NORTHAMPTON — You don’t have to be from Scotland to enjoy everything Scottish.

Olysea Bardow, who was born in Belarus and later emigrated to the United States, is just one of the many vendors who will be present at the 30th annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival on Saturday at Look Park.

This won’t be her first trip to the festival, either. Years ago, she competed in the Highland Dance competition when the festival was held in Blandford.

Bardow, who uses Olwen Bardow as her pen name, will be selling her book, “The Whispers of the Heather: The Tales of Yore,” which features 12 fairytales exploring the mysteries of the enchanted fairy realm of Celtic folklore.

“Along with my husband, I have traveled to Scotland three times. I was going through a personal crisis at the time of our first visit, but the minute I stepped into Scotland it felt as if I was in a different world and everything changed for me,” Bardow said.

Her first trip to Scotland is when she was first introduced to Highland dancing. On her second trip, her interest in Celtic folklore was born.

“I became enchanted by the many castles we visited along with the history and folklore associated with them and these exciting stories came to mind about Scottish culture and the belief in fairies. I did more research and put my heart and soul into writing the book,” Bardow said.

But Saturday’s festival is not just about vendors. Look Park will come alive with Celtic dancers, Highland pipers and drummers, a clan parade and mass drummers at the opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m., sheep herding, Scottish dogs and other animals, wool spinners and weavers and lively Celtic music. Festivalgoers can also celebrate their Scottish heritage — real or coveted — with kilt-wearing, tree-tossing at the Highland athletic games, and delighting in plates piled high with scones, shortbread, bridies and meat pies served up in the vendor area.

Last year, there were 38 pipe bands competing at the festival, with over 700 pipers and drummers marching in opening ceremonies — more than any other Scottish festival on the East Coast.

Gates open at 9 a.m. and, while most vendors leave the event around 5 p.m., the festival continues with closing ceremonies at 6 p.m. and entertainment in the Celtic Pub until 8:30 p.m.

“This year is our 30th anniversary after holding our first festivals in Blandford, which was founded in 1735 by Scottish Irish settlers. Now, three decades later, we can proudly proclaim that Glasgow Lands is the second-largest Scottish festival in New England and the only one in Massachusetts thanks to the continued support of our sponsors, volunteers and the many attendees who each year come in search of world-class Scottish arts,” said Petere Langmore, longtime festival chair.

Langmore noted the sounds of drums will be more present than ever this year, thanks to the festival’s inaugural Northeast Branch Amateur Drumming Championships. The event will feature all grade levels of amateur snare, tenor, and bass drumming.

“I come from a Scottish background and to me, seeing and hearing the drummers is exciting. Upon entering Look Park and its surrounding woodlands, you will hear the echoes of pipes and drums all day, especially when the 31 massed bands march into the opening and closing ceremonies,” said Diane Peacey, pipe and drum coordinator for the past 10 years.

In addition to the drums and many other sounds of Scotland immersing visitors into its vibrant culture, there will be live music representing the wealth of internationally renowned bands and musicians who make their home in “Alba,” the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland.

From 9:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. there will be world-class Celtic music in the Ceilidh tent featuring The Devil’s Brigade, Albannach and Waking Finnegan. Albannach, whose members were born and raised in Scotland, will perform at 1:30 and 3:45 p.m. New Hampshire-based Celtic rock band Waking Finnegan will perform at 10:15 a.m., 12:15 and 2:45 p.m., while the Devil’s Brigade, embracing Celtic rock and world music, will perform at 4:45 and 7 p.m.

You can raise a glass to all the music in the Celtic Pub nearby with local microbrews provided by New City Brewery in Easthampton, who Langmore said “almost always sells out of their special Scottish Ale.” New this year is the availability of wine and mead from Phantom Brewing Company in Greenfield.

For the seasoned drinker, this year’s tasting offers participants — for an additional charge — a whisky trip through Scotland. Hosted by “The Whisky Pirate” Jay Cole and sponsored by ImPex Beverages in partnership with Four Seasons Liquors in Hadley, Cole will discuss flavor differences and distilling techniques from different regions in Scotland.

The highlight of the festival, the Highland Athletic Games, often attracts some 300 watchers each year. The Highland Athletic Games, usually beginning around 9 a.m. with the first event, the Braemer Stone, date back some 900 years to Scottish King Malcom Canmore, who devised the first Scottish Games. The games, open to both men and women, require a combination of strength and athleticism to participate in stone throwing, weight tossing, hammer-throwing, and caber toss.

“Tossing the caber, perhaps the most traditional of all the competitive games, is what layman folks refer to as tossing a telephone poll. It is actually a large, tapered pole around 17-feet long that is tossed end-over-end flipping into the air,” said Al Wilder, game coordinator.

“My personal favorite is the sheaf toss where a competitor using a pitchfork throws a bale of hay over a bar suspended from a ladder about 20 feet high, but I’ve seen them tossed as high as 35 feet,” he added.

Kids can also be Scots for a day by participating in the Children’s Highland Games at 1:30 p.m. Activities include a rope pull, caber toss, haggis toss, and a sack race. The event is next to the Water Spray Park, which also will be open for splashing around and cooling off.

If you’re looking to learn more about your connections to Scotland, clans and genealogists will be present to assist in tracing your Scottish ancestry. In the background, enjoy Celtic harp music performed by the Pioneer Valley Harpers’ Guild in the Harper’s Tent.

On the Dance Stage, Black Rose Academy of Irish Dance and the Cassin Academy of Irish Dance will both perform. The stage will also play host to demonstrations by Massachusetts Historical Swordsmanship.

“July in Scotland is a typical summer month with warm temperatures. However, given the unpredictability of the climate there, the month also sees about 11 days of rain. Whatever the weather in Glasgow on Saturday, here across the ocean in Northampton whether it rains or shines, the festival will go on,” Langmore said.

Tickets at the gate are $32 and $5 for children ages 6-12. Kids under age 6 are admitted free. Advance tickets, available online at glasgowlands.org, are $29.

The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival Inc. is a nonprofit corporation. Its mission is to support other area nonprofits as well as to provide scholarships for qualifying Scottish dance, pipe and/or drum students.

All proceeds from this year’s event will benefit River Valley Counseling Center, a multi-service agency in Hampden County, which is a licensed mental health clinic that offering a range of traditional and non-traditional outpatient services to adults and children. Proceeds will also benefit Forum House in Westfield, a service of Viability, Inc., serving disabled and disadvantaged adults in Hampden, Hampshire and South Worcester counties.

For more information and a complete festival schedule, go online to glasgowlands.org or call 413-862-8095 or 413-862-4539.