Get your kilt out of mothballs and get ready for some fun at the Scottish Pavilion this weekend during the seventh annual Lieutenant Governor’s Westman Winter Festival.

The Scots are all about tradition, so here’s another one: The Scottish Pavilion in the Imperial Ballroom of the Victoria Inn traditionally attracts some of the biggest crowds to the weekend of fun and this year should be no exception.

You’ve got Scottish food (haggis, Scotch pie and trifle), Scottish drinks (malt whiskey and special beers), Scottish entertainment (all local this year) and, of course, Scottish hospitality and fun.

Lesley Gentles, who has lived in Canada for the past eight years, is vice-president of the Westman Scottish Association. She can’t wait for this weekend to arrive.

“It’s nice to hear the bagpipes and it’s so lovely to get together with all the Scottish people,” she said. “It’s nice to have a weekend like this — a real focal point of the year.”

For the first time, the entertainment will be all local. In past years, it has been imported, but “there’s so much of it around here, it’s good for us to be able to showcase it,” said Gentles.

Entertainment includes the Westman Dancers, who offer traditional highland dancing, Milliken McGuire, a Brandon-based group that sings Scottish songs, singer Jackie Mooney of Virden, Brandon’s McHarg School of Dancing and Swamp Gas, a group that plays traditional Scottish music which has been booked for Friday night.

While all pavilions have promised to be open at least until 11 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, odds are good that Swamp Gas will play well past that hour on Friday, said Gentles.

In the past couple of years, the Scottish Pavilion has attracted between 6,000 and 7,000 visitors and that popularity has translated into pretty good profits, which is good for local charities. The vast majority of the money earned by the pavilion goes to charitable groups such as the Crohn’s and Colitis Association, the Riverbank Discovery Centre and the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

People making up the big crowds have earned the respect and admiration of Gentles, who says “they are so happy to line up to get into our pavilion. They’re so patient. We’re busy most of the time.”

Saturday afternoon is usually the busiest period. “It can be a very popular time,” she said, “because we have continuous entertainment.”

Gentles said despite the small number of members of the Westman Scottish Association (around 60), a number more than double that usually signs up to volunteer. “We have a tremendous volunteer base,” she said. “We have a very busy pavilion, so we need a lot of volunteers so we can give them a break so they can go and visit other pavilions.”

While hot meals are served Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday afternoon will feature tea, scones and shortbread.

As for haggis, it will available most of the weekend. As will the fun and hospitality.