Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, the NIU Convocation Center played host to the first annual Heartland International Tattoo, a music and dance festival paying tribute to international music and culture, as well as the nation’s military.

Featuring a cast of over 350 entertainers, the event attracted around 2,000 people, said Kevin Selover, marketing director for the Convo.

Bagpipes

Following a short introductory speech, the Chicago Highlanders Pipe Band treated the audience to the first of several performances by a bagpipe and drum corps.

“I’ve seen the pipes and drums in the parades before,” said Oregon resident Ken Drucks. “It’s something you don’t see every day. It’s kind of like living history.”

The Central Illinois St. Andrew’s Society Pipe Band were another traditional pipe and drum band, but the 8 Wing Canadian Trenton Pipe Band played with a band made up of guitar, bass, keyboards, electronic drums and fiddle.

“We’re huge fans of music, especially drum corps,” said DeKalb resident Beth McCarroll. “I especially liked the Trenton band. They had a nice combo of traditional and modern music.”

All three pipe bands performed together at various points as well.

Dancers

The McNulty Irish Dancers performed three times throughout the event, demonstrating the characteristic stiff-armed Irish dancing.

Anywhere between four and 16 dancers were on the floor at a time, performing both hard-shoe and soft-shoe routines.

The Thistle & Heather Highland Dancers performed twice, including a Scottish broadsword dance in which the dancers carry the swords onto the floor, put them down and dance around them.

Steel drums

During three performances, the members of the NIU Steel Drum Band danced in rhythm, playing a mix of traditional bossa nova and classical music.

Military

For the second half of performances, the nation’s military was recognized through performances by military entertainment units.

Perhaps the most impressive performance was by the US Coast Guard Silent Drill Team, which gave a literal example of military precision. Executing marching and rifle routines in perfect unison, they had no music or external rhythm to keep them in time.

The US Navy Jazz Band played a big-band era set to honor the members and families of US Navy Band Unit 22 who died on board the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. There were also performances by the Great Lakes Navy Marching Band and the US Marines Drum & Bugle Corps from Washington, D.C.

Finally, the military bands were joined by the pipe bands for a massed performance of the traditional songs “Scotland the Brave,” “Amazing Grace” and “Heather’s Lullaby.”

During this, the Marine Living Memorial Honor Guard re-enacted the famous planting of the American flag at Iwo Jima. The massive sound of three pipe bands and two brass bands provided a haunting and epic finale to the festival.