With all the kilts, medieval jousting and bagpipes, it was easy to mistake the 25th annual Hawaiian Scottish Festival and Highland Games in Kapi'olani Park for a Renaissance fair.

While there were not any wooden stocks or even a town fool, some people still couldn't resist showing up in Waikiki dressed in full medieval costume.

Jami Macy, clothed in a light blue two-layer peasant dress, watched closely off to the side as a group of medieval swordsmen demonstrated the art of full-armor combat. Her dress normally has four layers, but she opted to leave two of them at home considering the warm summer day.

Macy, originally from Oklahoma, had visited the festival Saturday. She was so enamored that she decided to attend again yesterday, but this time in a Renaissance dress made by her mother.

"They had Renaissance fairs in the town I grew up in. It just ended up being something I love," Macy said.

Macy said she doesn't know of any Renaissance fairs in Hawai'i, so this was the closest she would get to one here.

"I love the jousting, the fighting. That's always fun to watch," she said.

Macy is also of Scottish and Irish descent, so attending the festival also makes her feel more in touch with her heritage, she said.

For those who were interested in exploring their Scottish heritage in more depth, there was an entire tent dedicated to several Scottish clans. Among the items was a genealogy table to get people started with tracking their family history.

Some who had already traced back their family line to a Scottish clan wore tartans, or plaid cloths fashioned into kilts, belonging to their family name.

Douglas Bauckham, of the Gunn clan in Hawai'i, wore a dark colored tartan he traced back to his mother's family. Gone are the days of strict rules that tartan patterns could only be passed down through the father, Bauckham said.

But while the rules are no longer so strict when it comes to which pattern kilt people can wear, Bauckham emphasized that the patterns cannot be chosen at random.

"The tartan, in battle, identified the clan," Bauckham said. "It's a serious matter of pride in Scottish families."

His grandparents came to Hawai'i from Scotland and had already traced their genealogy back to the Gunn clan. He now heads the Gunn clan in Hawai'i.

There are more than 150 Scottish clans, each with their own worldwide organization, linked together by a governing body back in Scotland. Clans even have their own history books, symbols, leaders and newsletters.

Maggie Okey, of Hawai'i Kai, said she has been trying to trace back her family line to a Scottish clan. She has already figured out which sept, or family surname, she belongs to. She now needs to trace that name back to a clan, she said.

"I'm planning to go to Scotland, hopefully in the next two years. I'd like to take my 88-year-old mother who lives in Indiana," she said.

Okey said she was planning to do extra research in the cultural tent about her family's history.

"I feel pretty comfortable here," Okey said, with the sounds of bagpipes in the background. It's "something in the spirit."

Others went to enjoy the dancing and bagpipers.

Valri Baker-Lundahl, a longtime Hawai'i resident, attends the festival every year. Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, Baker-Lundahl said listening to the bagpipes takes her back to her childhood.

"I grew up with all this — the dancing, these songs," she said.

Her favorite part of it all: When the men in kilts take a run around Kapi'olani Park.

"It's wonderful. You can't miss it," she said.

This weekend's events also included dance demonstrations, storytelling, games for kids, Highland events such as tossing the caber, Celtic pipes and drums and Irish dancers.