WE LIVE IN A NATION obsessed by festivals. This is no bad thing. In August's Edinburgh festivals Scotland has arguably the most important arts event in the world, and in T in the Park, it has a multi-award-winning pop festival to rival Glastonbury.
In this Year of Homecoming, these are things to shout about. So this special issue of Critique – devoted to 20 of the most interesting festivals on offer this spring and summer – is doing just that.
This is not a "best of..." list. What we've done is choose festivals we thought there was something interesting to say about. We want to alert you to some newcomers, such as Behaviour and The Garden Party, celebrate the return of others, such as The Outsider, and generally help you plan your summer.
Scotland has lost some festivals this year – Connect, in particular, will be sadly missed – but these four pages celebrate a culture that is still, despite the recession, in rude health. Go find your diary.
1 BEHAVIOUR As artistic director at The Arches in Glasgow, Jackie Wylie is the best kind of new broom, honouring Andy Arnold's left-field legacy while, as a boss still in her twenties, giving programming a new edge.
Behaviour is her brainchild, a two-week explosion of live art that smashes boundaries between forms – theatre, movement, music, installation, debate and dance.
Artists involved include Arches Award winners Nic Green and Sacha Kyle, top Scottish movement man Al Seed, New York composer and theatre artist John Moran, and, most explosively, 2008 Scotsman Fringe First winners Ontroerend Goed, from Belgium, with their brilliant teenage riot of a show Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen. "Do you dare to stamp your feet and bare your teeth?" runs the Festival slogan; be there, or miss an essential glimpse of the future of Scottish theatre.
• The Arches, Glasgow, 12-25 April, 0141-565 1000.
JOYCE McMILLAN
2 HINTERLANDAs 2009 is its inaugural year, it's impossible to say exactly what may be expected of the first Hinterland, although spreading a two-day, one-ticket festival over a square mile of Glasgow city centre is such a no-brainer that many might be surprised it hasn't been done before. In fact, it has; last year's Sauchiehall Crawl was the same thing on a micro-budget.
Reassuringly taking the place of the much-missed Triptych on the calendar, organiser Mike Oman aims to pack bands into venues like the ABC, King Tut's, Nice 'n' Sleazy's, the Art School and many more; he's already collected around 80 bands for the bill. Among the bigger names confirmed are the Fall, a returning Sons and Daughters, Metronomy and Good Shoes, as well as London-based Scots producer Drums of Death. Yet Oman's aim is to ensure as much talent as possible comes from the Glasgow area, in order that this mini-festival gives national exposure for fine Scots bands themselves.
• Various venues, 30 April and 1 May,
www.hinterlandfestival.comDAVID POLLOCK
3 BIG IN FALKIRKScotland's street arts festival is ten years old this year. When it was dreamed up in 2000 it was a modest local initiative, part of that year's millennium celebrations. With support from Radio One, it drew an audience of around 70,000. Now around 100,000 people travel to Callendar Park in Falkirk each May.
It's always a slightly odd, catch-all mish-mash – from one-to-one encounters with street performers to visually spectacular outdoor shows, plus a mixed bag pop line-up that, while it will never compete with T in the Park, has in the past nabbed Snow Patrol, Deacon Blue and the Human League, and has the major advantage of being free. In recent years it has tried all kinds of new tricks too, including environmental art and an indoor live art segment which, while poorly attended, showed an admirable sense of adventure. This year's programme is still to be announced, but hopefully they'll be pulling out the stops for the tenth anniversary. Check the website for updates.
• Callendar Park, Falkirk, 2-3 May,
www.biginfalkirk.comANDREW EATON
One month in August
4 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALThese are uncertain times for Edinburgh's festivals, with the ongoing global recession hitting tourism, sponsorship and venue budgets hard, but this week, at least, has offered two causes for optimism. Firstly, on Monday, Festivals Edinburgh – the new umbrella group set up to promote all of the city's festivals under one banner, including those outside August – laid out its plans, including a TV advertising campaign, an online festival TV channel, and marketing across Europe and in America. The budget for all this, £450,000, surely won't stretch very far, but it's a positive step. There is talk of lobbying ScotRail to run later trains back to Glasgow during August, and of a much more user-friendly box office system that allows festival-goers to buy tickets for every festival in one place. Both are sensible, practical ideas, and are long overdue.
All in all, this week's launch amounted to a far more convincing display of solidarity than that shown by the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, which continues to look and act more like four big venues protecting their own pockets than a project with the whole city's interests at heart.
The other cause for optimism is Jonathan Mills's third Edinburgh International Festival programme, announced on Wednesday. Like virtually every other Scottish festival this year, the EIF has a Year of Homecoming flavour, but Mills is offering something far more interesting, and more international, than the onslaught of Burns and Saltire-waving that has characterised many of the Homecoming events so far. You want to talk about what "homecoming" means? Mills gives you the Royal Ballet of Flanders performing The Return of Ulysses, about a conquering hero returning home after 20 years, and Diaspora, a blend of music and video installation by Ong Keng Sen that promises "a sweeping, panoramic performance exploring memory, migration, assimilation and the triumph of the human spirit".
There is, admittedly, a specifically Scottish flavour to it all too. A key theme is the Scottish Enlightenment, and there is a substantial programme of talks on its history and ideas. But Mills is being playfully subversive too, commissioning Rona Munro to write a play about Scotland's last witch trial, which took place only a few years before the Enlightenment. The uncomfortable, underlying point here is that civilisation and savagery are never too far apart.
All in all, this year's EIF promises a substantial festival of ideas, a Homecoming event shaped by artists, not politicians or tourist boards. That's always worth celebrating.
• Various venues, Edinburgh, 14 August to 6 September,
www.eif.co.ukANDREW EATON
5 HEBRIDEAN CELTIC FESTIVALNow in its 14th year, Heb Celt, as it's affectionately known, has developed into one of Europe's premier folk events, presenting A-list headliners alongside home-grown talent. Its best-of-both-worlds format combines three main concerts in a 5,000-capacity marquee with intimate shows in Stornoway's An Lanntair venue, which also doubles as the Festival Club, hosting informal late-night performances by most participating acts.
Topping the bill for 2009 are Qubcois supergroup La Bottine Souriante, Celtic fusioneers the Michael McGoldrick Band and Irish accordion goddess Sharon Shannon. Sharing in the festival's convivial atmosphere will be Fringe favourites The Wilders, accordion posse Box Club, award-winning Orkney outfit The Chair and Capercaillie vocalist Karen Matheson, together with a strong array of Gaelic talent.
&149 Isle of Lewis, 15-18 July,
www.hebceltfest.comSUE WILSON
6 BELLADRUM TARTAN HEART FESTIVALFor those who remember Glastonbury before it became a soulless, corporate quagmire of Prada wellingtons and rap-star headliners, a miniature version of that once great music festival can be located just a few miles west of Inverness. Belladrum – or, the Tartan Heart Festival as it's officially known – is a modern hippie's dream. Non-corporate and family-friendly, this eco-friendly festival bestows the feel of the early Glasto festivals of the 1960s and 1970s: from organically titled arenas (Hothouse, Venus Flytrap, Potting Shed, etc) to its eclectic programme (Alabama 3, Lee Scratch Perry, Biffy Clyro have all performed in the past); from being able to order a pedal-powered smoothie, to letting kids under 12 in for free – it even has its own natural amphitheatre set in the remains of an Italian garden.
• Belladrum Estate, near Beauly, 7-8 August, www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk
BARRY GORDON
7 THE OUTSIDERThe Outsider burst on to the Scottish festival scene in 2007, with a refreshingly eco-conscious take on the "party in a field" concept pioneered by the Druids. The weekend event featured running and mountain bike races, guest speakers and two stellar headline acts: KT Tunstall (who arrived in a biofuel bus) and Crowded House (who flew in).
This winning formula attracted 8,500 punters a day, so it was a surprise to learn that the 2008 event had been cancelled because of funding problems, and because an "international rock act" favoured by the organisers had decided not to come to the UK after all.
Some of this year's musical line-up is still to be announced, but Sharleen Spiteri as the Saturday night headliner is a good start, and there will be no shortage of outdoorsy things to do, from whitewater rafting to stargazing.
• Rothiemurchus Estate, near Aviemore, 27-28 June,
www.outsiderfestival.co.ukROGER COX
8 ST MAGNUS FESTIVALPerhaps the most remarkable thing about this year's St Magnus Festival is the presence of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It has never made it up to Orkney for what remains one of the most audacious annual festivals in Britain. In the past, the RSNO Proms have stood in the way but as these no longer exist, the St Magnus midsummer slot is now open.
Colin Currie will join the RSNO for the Scottish premiere of American Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto, Lisa Milne and the Huddersfield Choral Society perform Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony and music director Stéphane Denève will feature some of the RSNO's Springtime in Paris festival, including Guillaume Conneson's new Piano Concerto, with Éric Le Sage.
The week-long programme is a mouth-watering mix of old and new – ranging from a revival of Peter Maxwell Davies's 1970's opera The Lighthouse performed by Psappha, to string quartet programmes by the Endellion Quartet.
There are visits too from poet laureate Andrew Motion, and the usual mix of cabaret and light music in Magfest at The Moulin Rouge Spiegeltent. Theatre focuses on local collaborations with National Theatre of Scotland Learn, and site-specific Transform Orkney in an as-yet unspecified venue.
• Various venues, Orkney, 19-24 June,
www.stmagnusfestival.comKENNETH WALTON
9 T IN THE PARKNot quite as universally adored as consensus appears to have it – for many, its defining image is of red young men with their tops off and their minds addled by many cups of the sponsor's lager – T in the Park is still, by a country mile, the biggest show on the Scottish festival circuit. With the (permanent?) retirement of the organisers' Inveraray-based Connect festival for 2009 and a roster of more mature artists folded into T's bill, the three-day July festival now has a stronger claim than ever on being the UK's second most important after Glastonbury.
It does feel like T truly offers something for everyone. While the top of the bill is packed with huge commercial names like Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, the Killers, Franz Ferdinand and Razorlight, this year's model also emphasises classic artists (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Pet Shop Boys, the Specials, a reformed Blur), pop (Lily Allen, the Ting Tings, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga) and respected alternative bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio and Mogwai.
The dance-based Slam Tent, essentially a massive nightclub in a field, also remains a unique draw for many T-goers, although – like the rest of the festival – it's perhaps best experienced from behind the comfort of at least a pint or two.
• Balado, Near Kinross, 10-12 July,
www.tinthepark.comDAVID POLLOCK
10 BORDERS BOOK FESTIVALBorders Book Festival director Alistair Moffat has been building on good word of mouth in Melrose for the past five years.
Two years ago, he moved the festival into marquees in the gardens of Harmony House – a setting, between the Tweed and the Eildon Hills, with the ruins of the abbey just across the road, that could hardly be bettered.
Moffat's mantra is simple: look after the writers, and they'll want to come back. Make it fun, accessible, stimulating and enjoyable and so will the audience.
Michael Palin, Ian Rankin, Douglas Hurd, Ali Smith and Sally Vickers will be on the bill for this year's event, and Rory Bremner will again host the awards ceremony for Scotland's most lucrative literary prize. The full programme, to be announced a week on Wednesday, looks like making the sixth Borders Book Festival the best one yet.
• Melrose, 18-21 June,
www.bordersbookfestival.orgDAVID ROBINSON
11 BURNS AN' A' THAT!The line-up for this year's Burns an' a' That! festival isn't due to be announced until Monday, but given that it's the Bard's 250th birthday this year, and given that this event is in many ways the centrepiece of the high-profile marketing exercise that is Homecoming Scotland, it is reasonable to expect great things.
At this stage we can only speculate about the musical treats that may or may not be in store, but up-and-coming bands are already battling it out for the chance to support the headliners at Rock at the Racecourse in a competition being called Ayrplay.
At time of going to press, The Laura Healy Band, Long Way Home, Core, The Zonules of Zinn and So What are all through to the semi- final stage.
The Zonules get our vote – check them out at www.myspace.com/zonulesofzinn.
Various venues, Ayrshire, 16-24 May. Look out for programme updates at the festival website,
www.burns.visitscotland.com ROGER COX
12 BANK OF SCOTLAND IMAGINATE FESTIVALCelebrating its 20th birthday, Scotland's international children's theatre festival has always offered young audiences around Edinburgh a thrilling feast of theatre from the UK, America and Europe. It has helped lift a once-fragile children's theatre scene to world-class levels of achievement. This year's programme is led by impressive work from Scottish companies Catherine Wheels, TAG and Visible Fictions. There's also theatre for tiny tots from Denmark, England and Wales, two shows for teens from the Stella Den Haag group of the Netherlands, and a huge range of work from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and the popular Compagna Radisio of Italy, who scored a hit last year with The Wolf and the Goat. There's also a visit from newcomers Slingsby of Australia, who present their Tragical Life of Cheeseboy, a tale of trickery, gypsies, and, of course, cheese.
• Various venues, Edinburgh, 25 May – 1 June,
www.imaginate.org.uk/FESTIVAL2009/home.phpJOYCE McMILLAN
13 FENCE HOMEGAME 2009"There was a lot of talk last year about moving the Homegame to the middle of the summer and making it an outdoor thing," says Fence Collective head honcho, Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote). "We did think about doing that, but the Homegame is unique, and it's really hard to get an atmosphere in a marquee tent, unless you spend a lot of money."
These words will be music to the ears of die-hard Fence fans, who love this annual shindig just the way it is: great music from the disparate acts on the Fence Records roster, plus a variety of special guests, taking place in intimate venues throughout the pretty Fife fishing town of Anstruther over the course of a (usually sunny) April weekend.
This year's event is planned for three days instead of the usual two, and there are slightly more tickets on sale than before – 550, or thereabouts. That said, the capacity of the festival's main venue, Anstruther Town Hall, is only 300, so the Homegame still promises to be a way more intimate experience than anything else you'll find on the annual Scottish festival circuit.
This year's Homegame line-up features all the usual Fence favourites: King Creosote (whose new album, Flick the Vs, is out towards the end of next month), Pictish Trail (whose new album Secret Soundz Vol 1 is out now) and James Yorkston, who will be performing in both his solo and his "with band" incarnations.
The new wave of Edinburgh-based artists currently gaining recognition for thoughtful experimental music is well represented by Found, Meursault, Eagleowl and Rob St John, and there are even a couple of semi-celebrity special guests: Malcolm Middleton and Emma Pollock.
Most exciting of all – for Fence-watchers, anyway – is the return of bonkers swampgrass howler Gummi Bakko (aka Alan Stewart), who bid the music world an emotional farewell at the Homegame of 2006, but is now back in front of the mic and ready to scream for his supper once more. Rumour has it that he might even be backed by King Creosote on drums – although Anderson is not a sticksmith by trade and describes his drumming style as "four limbs all flailing at the same time, in time". The last time KC guested on drums at a Bakko gig, he struggled with the stop-start nature of some of the songs. He has suggested rehearsing, but Stewart isn't having any of it, saying he prefers to keep things "free".
"I've got a feeling Alan will just chuck me in at the deep end again," says Anderson. "I guess I'll just try and keep it simple – and have folk laugh at me."
• Anstruther, Fife, 17-19 April. For more information visit
www.fencerecords.comROGER COX
14 EAST NEUK FESTIVALFive years in, the East Neuk Festival has become one of Scotland's most diverse and alluring summer events. Quaint venues, such as Dunino Kirk or cliff-perched St Monans, host lutenist Jacob Heringman, the Leipzig String Quartet and traditional oud player Ahmed Mukhtar. Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform Mozart and Wagner in the more spacious Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews, and at Cellardyke Church, while at Crail Church pianist Christian Zacharias returns as resident artist with collaborators including the Leopold String Trio and baritone Stephen Loges.
At Pittenweem Scout Hut hear the spectral sounds of Stockhausen, Berio, Ligeti and Varèse. Or pick up a pre-loaded MP3 player to experience Edinburgh composer Martin Parker's music designed to enhance walking tours of Dunino Den, St Fillan's Cave and Crail Harbour.
• East Neuk, 1-5 July,
www.eastneukfestival.comKENNETH WALTON
15 THE GARDEN PARTYLaunching a new pop festival in a recession seems optimistic, especially one featuring few obvious big names. But the Garden Party, in picturesque Kelburn Castle country park, has a fresh approach.
"We've seen festivals fail because of a policy of booking a few big names and then expecting the tickets to sell by themselves," says artistic director Chris Knight. "We take the view that we need a soul and philosophy that will catch the imagination of real music fans."
So the Kelburn programme offers an eclectic mix of up-and-coming Scottish bands, such as Found, A Band Called Quinn and The Aliens, international acts with strong live reputations, like The Bays, and a host of underground DJs from Glasgow and Edinburgh. "The Garden Party will see the biggest concentration of local left-field talent ever gathered in one place," says Knight.
• Kelburn Castle, near Largs, 19-21 June,
www.kelburnproductions.com/gardenpartyANDREW EATON
16 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALThe EIFF made the brave decision last year to ditch its traditional August slot and go it alone in June. Ticket sales were reportedly up and it certainly had a more relaxed vibe, but it also felt smaller. Doubtless that was partly down to a determined effort to reposition itself as a cutting-edge event focused on breaking new talent – a noble enterprise, even if it didn't quite fulfil that remit. Its traditional strengths – a brilliant documentary strand, continued support of talent it has nurtured in the past, and the relaxed way it brings film-makers and audiences together – remained intact. If it can match these with a genuinely innovative and unpredictable programme (one that drops the juvenile flavour of last year's higher profile events – and I'm not talking about Wall-E), then expect it to start fulfilling its potential come June.
• Various venues, Edinburgh, 17-28 June,
www.edfilmfest.org.ukALISTAIR HARKNESS
17 WICKERMANRegardless of any other merits, a festival which takes its name and inspiration from Robin Hardy's 1973 Pagan horror film and which similarly concludes with the spectacular burning of an actual wicker man (virgin policeman not included) obviously has something unique going for it.
Held on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway, the same area in which the film was shot, the Wickerman draws fans from the central belt, Cumbria, Manchester and beyond.
What's also impressive is how seamlessly it fuses age gaps, with old punks lining up alongside early-1990s ravers and young fans of indie rock. The headliners are The Human League and The Zutons, with Billy Bragg, Zion Train and UK Subs sharing a bill with the old-fashioned festival techno of Dreadzone. In this respect, it's about as family-friendly as festivals come.
• East Kirkcarswell Farm, near Kirkcudbright, 24-25 July,
www.thewickermanfestival.co.ukDAVID POLLOCK
18 WEST END FESTIVAL / LEITH FESTIVALWe're cheating here with our "top 20"format,but itwouldn't feel right to choose one of these events over the other. The Leith and West End festivals are very much alike – from gigs and films to theatre, exhibitions and talks (around 150 events in Leith,200in Glasgow).
Both have a strong community spirit. Both have, as their centrepiece, a gala day and parade (13 June in Leith, 14 June in Glasgow). Both, arguably, have quality control issues, but mostly make up for it by sheer liveliness.
The West End Festival is the more established of the two, and this year has recruited Glasgow PR and events company Dada to beef up the programme and attract sponsorship.
Meanwhile, Leith Festival is growing fast. It'll never match its west coast cousin for scenery, but looks aren't everything.
• Leith Festival, Edinburgh, 5-14 June,
www.leithfestival.com. West End Festival, Glasgow, 13-28 June,
www.westendfestival.co.ukANDREW EATON
19 ORKNEY FOLK FESTIVAL An acid test of a great festival is how many people come back again and again, both audiences and musicians. On both counts OFF scores exceptionally highly, being famed worldwide for its high-quality programming and the mightiness of its craic, in a uniquely beautiful setting – it's based in Orkney's second main port of Stromness, but concerts and ceilidhs take place throughout the islands. Visiting headliners this year include exciting Irish bands Buille and Beoga, along with one of its finest singers, ex-Solas vocalist Karan Casey. Other highlights include Bellowhead frontmen John Spiers and Jon Boden, the Karine Polwart Trio, Quebec outfit Genticorum and Shetland neighbours Fiddlers Bid. Equal pride of place in the programme, however, is given to Orkneys own vibrant music scene, hence the constant jam sessions taking place in Stromness pubs.
• Various venues, Orkney, 21-24 May,
www.orkneyfolkfestival.com SUE WILSON
20 PITTENWEEM ARTS FESTIVALTraditionally, the centrepiece of the annual Pittenweem Arts Festival is an exhibition featuring an invited "big name" artist – luminaries showcased in the past include Ian Hamilton Finlay, John Bellany and Adrian Wiszniewski. This year, however, the Fife fishing town will give pride of place at its annual clamjamfrie to a local painter, More Horsburgh, who died last year at the age of 81.
Horsburgh's oils and acrylics are mostly of local scenes and sailing boats.
There will be a huge spread of exhibitions and events in more than 100 venues all over town. Pittenweem may not look like a very big place on the map, but a few hours of wandering up and down its steep wynds hunting for out-of-the-way exhibition spaces can really take it out of you. Allow at least two days to do the festival justice.
• Various venues, Pittenweem, 1-9 August,
www.pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk ROGER COX
Book festivalsEDINBURGH (15-31 August) remains the "mother ship" for Scotland's book festivals, but an impressive number of others are establishing a firm place on the calendar.
Now that the StAnza festival is over, the next biggest is Aberdeen's Word Festival (www.abdn.ac.uk/word, 15-17 May). Dundee's book festival (www.literarydundee.co.uk, 25-28 June) is also organised by a university, but Aberdeen's has a much bigger range, including a full children's programme. This year, a sponsorship deal has allowed it to use a new marquee theatre.
This year's Ullapool Book Festival (8-10 May, www.ullapoolbookfestival.co.uk) also has a new venue – Isle Martin, the community-owned island in Loch Broom. The audience will be taken there in the morning and brought back, late afternoon. Ali Smith, Bernard MacLaverty and Jackie Kay headline a strongly Scottish programme.
People in and around Nairn (5-13 June, www.nairnfestival.co.uk) and Wigtown (25 September – 4 October, www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk) may not always expect the country's best writers to turn up on their doorsteps. Come festival time, this changes. The transformation into cultural hub is always wonderful.
DAVID ROBINSON
Folk festivalsAN early-bird addition to 2009's folk festival calendar is Northern Roots (3-5 April, Bogbain Farm, near Inverness, www.northern-roots-festival.com), whose mix of folk, country and bluegrass acts includes Edinburgh singer-songwriter Dean Owens. Knoydart's 10 Music Festival (17-19 April, www.knoydart10.com) celebrates the peninsula's decade of community ownership with Shooglenifty, Mystery Juice and Bombskare. The 29th Shetland Folk Festival (30 April to 3 May, www.shetlandfolkfestival.com) also features Shooglenifty, plus acts from Scandinavia, Hungary, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Asturias.
The Knockengorroch World Ceilidh, near Castle Douglas (22-24 May, www.knockengorroch.org.uk), a popular spring fixture for the tie-dyed and dreadlocked, this year features The Orb, Roni Size, Terrafolk, Orkestra del Sol and Justin Adams. The Arran Folk Festival (7-14 June, www.arranfolkfestival.com) makes a welcome return, headlined by Irish stars Lunasa, while late summer highlights include the renowned Mull of Kintyre Music Festival (20-23 August, www.mokfest.com) and Blas (4-12 September, www.blas-festival.com), a Highland-wide programme of Celtic talent.
SUE WILSON
...AND A TON MORE 3-8 April – Edinburgh International Harp Festival, www.harpfestival.co.uk (see p11)
• 21-24 May – Knockengorroch World Ceilidh, www.knockengorroch.org.uk
• 6 June – Coloursfest 09, Glasgow, www.colours.co.uk
• 12-14 June – RockNess, near Loch Ness, www.rockness.co.uk
• 19-28 June – Glasgow Jazz Festival, jazzfest.co.uk
• 21 June – Glasgow Mela, www.glasgowmela.com
• 29 June – 4 July – Mendelssohn on Mull, www.mullfest.org.uk
• 15-19 July – Hebridean Celtic Festival, Stornoway, www.hebceltfest.com
• 25-26 July – The Gathering, Edinburgh www.clangathering.org
• 25-26 July – Big Tent, Falkland, Fife, www.bigtentfestival.co.uk
• 29 July – 8 August – Aberdeen International Youth Festival, www.aiyf.org
• 31 July – 9 August – Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, www.edinburghjazzfestival.co.uk
• 1-9 August – Nairn International Jazz Festival, www.nairnjazz.com
• 5 August – 5 September – Edinburgh Art Festival, www.edinburghartfestival.org
• 7-9 August – Edinburgh Mela, www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk
• 7-31 August – Edinburgh Festival Fringe, www.edfringe.com
• 9-30 August – Festival of Spirituality and Peace, Edinburgh, www.festivalofspirituality.org.uk
• 10-16 August – Piping Live, Glasgow, www.pipingfestival.co.uk
• 12-15 August – Fringe by the Sea, www.fringebythesea.co.uk
• 15-31 August – Edinburgh International Book Festival, www.edbookfest.co.uk
