2012-05-17T13:53:06Z Festival Team Copyright 2012, Festival Team SPHPBLOG Welcome to the Inverness Festivals Blog.
Sometimes it's really hard to believe just how much our young Festivals' programme has grown since it was first launched in the winter of 2008.

However, thanks to the support of the members of the Inverness City Committee and our local business and creative communities, here we are in 2012 looking forward to a year featuring not one but two once in a lifetime events; the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and a visit by the Olympic Torch and of course our free concert The Red Hot Highland Fling now firmly established as Scotland's 2nd biggest Hogmanay Party behind Edinburgh's.

There are a number of exciting new developments in the pipeline, which we have been sworn to secrecy about, so please make a note to return to this site in the weeks ahead to read all of our latest news and views.

Best Wishes from The Festivals Team


Listed below are details of the major events that will be taking place in the Capital of the Highlands until December 2012.

To the right you can find links to some of the websites supporting these events.

In addition to the events below, you can find details of many of the numerous other events taking place in the Highland Capital in our What's On Section which is edited and updated every day by our friends at the Inverness City Advertiser.

As usual we have some GREAT events for kids to enjoy in our programme and we have highlighted the ones that we think they will REALLY enjoy with a wee star! *

To find out more about the events below - please scroll down - and discover more about them in our blogs. We would love to have your comments and feedback so please tell us what you think.

2012 Major Events Programme

Snowman Rally (18 February)
Inverness Music Festival (3-14 March)
Inverness Half Marathon (11 March)
Inverness Whisky Festival (6-7 April)
*The Great Easter Egg Hunt (6-7 April)
Brew at the Bog Festival (5 May)
Race for Lifde (6 May)
*Inverness BID City Classic Vehicle Show (12 May)
Happyness Comedy Festival (24-28 May)
Northern Roots Festival (1-3 June)
Queens Diamond Jubilee Beacon (4 June)
Rock Ness (8-10 June)
* Olympic Torch Relay (9 June)
Inverness Youth Football Festival (15-17 June)
Cadet Tri Service Event (16 June)
Swamp Soccer World Cup (23-24 June)
Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Golf (12-15 July)
* Inverness Bunkers Festival (12-14 July)
*Inverness Highland Games and Armed Forces Day (21 July)
Inverness Book Festival (25-28 July)
*Inverness Boat Festival (28 July)
Black Isle Show (2 August)
Highland Field Sports Fair (3-4 August)
Belladrum Festival (3-4 August)
*Inverness Raft Race (18th August)
Summer in the City - JLS (23 August)
Summer in the City - Status Quo (24 August)
Summer in the City - Runrig (25 August)
Summer in the City - Jools Holland (26 August)
Inverness Flower Festival (TBC August)
Northern Meeting Piping Competition (6-7 September)
Kirking Weekend Celebrations (7-9 September)
Blas Festival "Kickstart" Concert (8 September)
Kirking of the Council (9 September)
Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon (30 September)
*Inverness Street Theatre Festival (TBC October)
*Ness Islands Halloween Show (26-27 October)
*Bonfire and Fireworks Display (5 November)
Inverness Film Festival (7-11 November)
Remembrance Sunday (11 November)
*Christmas Lights Switch On (17 November)
*Rudolph's Winter Wonderland (8-9 December)
The Red Hot Highland Fling (31 December)

For further information please contact:
The Inverness Festivals Team
c/o Gerry Reynolds (Events and Promotions Officer) 01463 724216
Email: gerry.reynolds@highland.gov.uk

]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120303-151055 2012-03-03T00:00:00Z 2012-03-03T00:00:00Z

There are a number of special events taking place in and around Inverness to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee.

On Monday 4th June commencing at 7.30pm there will be a special Ecumenical Diamond Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving in St Stephens Church in Church Street.

This will be followed at 8.30pm with a special Bunkers Festival being held in the city centre to entertain spectators before they gather at Inverness Castle at 9.30pm a special Finale Show before the Inverness Beacon is lit at 10pm above Inverness Castle.

The Beacon is one of 2012 that are being lit around the UK that night and the lighting of the Inverness Beacon will be followed by a short fireworks display above Inverness Cathedral which will see 60 Fireworks being launched to mark the occasion.

Meanwhile at Essich Farm, brothers Finlay and Robbie Kerr are marking the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the 25th Anniversary of the Opening of the Highland Hospice with a fundraising barn dance featuring music by Bruce Macgregor and Friends commencing at 7.30pm and the lighting of a bonfire beacon and the release of Chinese Lanterns at 10pm.

The Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations will conclude on Saturday 16 June when there will be a Tri-Service Parade through the streets of Inverness featuring the Sea Cadet Corps, the 1st Highlanders Army Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps at 2.30pm. The parade will march from Inverness Castle past the Town House to Northern Meeting Park where a Drumhead Service will be held.
]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120302-133852 2012-03-02T00:00:00Z 2012-03-02T00:00:00Z "In 2011 we went BUNKERS" to celebrate the staging of the Scottish Open Golf Championship at Castle Stuart. In 2012 all your facourite performers will be hitting the streets of Inverness once again to create an unforgettable party atmosphere for you and your family to enjoy
Check these videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t3jusv63yE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcqFGol5QJM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rht1gVIwXJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaSfCMPeMs0




Here is just a flavour of what you can expect!



]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120301-155103 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z

While you are waiting to see the arrival of the Olympic Torch in Inverness on June 9th you may discover that there are rather a lot of cycles in the vicinity of Whin Park and Highland Rugby Club.

The first Inverness Cycling Festival is scheduled to take place between 11.30 and 15:30 on Saturday June 9th and we are hopeful that this will become a real family favourite in the years ahead.

Headlining the event this year will be some awe inspiring performances by the 7stanes Bike Display Team.

For several years now, the 7stanes Display team has travelled the length and breadth of the UK, from Belfast to Birmingham, wowing audiences everywhere they go with their skills and bravado.

Whether it’s leaping across an 8 foot gap; jumping over a 1 metre high bar; flying over our 7stanes truck or balancing on 2" wide beam, there is nothing these young riders won’t do to ensure that their audiences are amazed and entertained. There will be three shows at 12:30 13:30 and 14:30 before a mass cycle along the banks of the River Ness to Northern Meeting Park to enjoy the Olympic Torch Relay Show.
]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120301-134356 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z



It will be the only one of the six Scottish cities to be visited by the Olympic Torch TWICE as it tours the UK ahead of the 2012 Games in London.

Topping the bill at our Evening Celebration in Northern Meeting Park will be Emile Sande .

The 24 year old singer, who has had two No1 singles, will play at the free concert to mark the visit of the Olympic torch on June 9. The event will top a successful breakthrough year for Sande, which started with her first solo single Heaven. Her album, Our Version of Events, reached No1 in February and she has also had two No1 singles, Read All About It with Professor Green and Next to Me. We cannot wait to see her perform!



The Olympic Torch will first appear in Inverness on the evening of Saturday June 9th.


The day will start with the opening of an exhibition (11am to 4pm) at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. Human Race: inside the history of sports medicine is an exhibition of Scottish medical and sporting collections, newly commissioned artworks and rare film footage that explores the body as it prepares for, and competes in, sport.

The exhibition highlights for the first time some of the pioneering developments in medical imaging, surgery and sports training that have taken place over the last 200 years, and their subsequent impact on the development of Sports and Exercise Medicine as we know it today.

Activities include guided tours of the Human Race exhibition, dance performances by the human robot dancer and a chance to challenge your strength and agility with Glasgow Science Centre’s Body Works Sports Station.

Everything is free and there is no need to book, just come along and enjoy a day of fun activities for all the family.

Also free is the first Inverness Cycling Festival based around Highland Rugby Club and Whin Park from Noon to 4pm. (see Preview above).

Also starting at Noon (and lasting until 6pm) will be a Day of Prayer at the Methodist Church in Huntly Street.

The gates at Northern Meeting Park will open at 4pm, where spectators will get the chance to meet the Presenting Partners (sponsors) before the show starts at 5pm.

As well as the performance by Emile Sande; thes how will feature a nystery famous Olympian, amazing dancers and our very own Inverness Festivals Band (Amy Henderson – accordion, Lewis Macleod – fiddle, Kieran Lockhart – accordion, Rachael MacDonald – bagpipes and whistles and Lauren Rattray – fiddle and side drum) with Blazin Fiddler Bruce Macgregor and Friends closing the show with another of their legendary high octane sets!

After the show, the Olympic Flame will head north to Orkney and Shetland before returning north on the morning of Monday June 11th to depart Inverness Castle at 10.30am en route to seeing our friends in Aberdeen.

Full details of the Torch Rely can be found by clicking on the link below.

]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120202-043038 2012-02-02T00:00:00Z 2012-02-02T00:00:00Z
CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME GREAT FOOTAGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnfZcj-QZNA]




The Inverness Highland Games and Armed Forces Day celebrations at Northern Meeting Park on Saturday 21st July always attracts thousands of spectators and a world class field of heavies to the Highland Capital.

Since combining with the city’s Armed Forces Day celebrations in 2010; the Inverness event is now one of the largest staged in Scotland, and features a wonderful parade through the streets of Inverness with 6 pipes and drums bands and hundreds of service personnel both past and present. The 2012 parade will start at 12.15 and will pass Inverness Town House before making its way to Northern Meeting Park Arena. This year's parade will feature modern army vehicles for the first time and a display of World War 2 equipment is planned for Northern Meeting Park. Veterans Badges and Diamond Jubilee Badges will be presented this year.
The Games will once again feature a number of activities taking place outside of Northern Meeting Park itself with the Waterside Hotel sponsored Piping Competitions taking place in the grounds of Eden Court Theatre and the giant Highland Council Car Park being used to accommodate a Traditional Music Show and other attractions. The athletics and the heavy events will start at 1.30pm and will provide an outstanding afternoons entertainment.
]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-153550 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z Some of the biggest names in stand up will head to our city from May 23rd to 28th as part of the new festival, including Bill Bailey, Dylan Moran, Fred Macaulay and Ardal O’Hanlon.

As well as a series of stand up shows over the five nights at venues including Eden Court and Hootanannys, there will be a search for comedy talent in a So You Think You’re Funny? showcase.

There will also be a night featuring new Gaelic talent.

And a first team line-up of Happyness comedians – led by ITV’s Show Me The Funny winner Patrick Monahan – is set to take on the might of Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a football match at Bught Park, with Fred Macaulay and New Zealand’s Jarred Christmas commentating.

Hosted by Edinburgh comedy venue The Gilded Balloon, Happyness will also take to the streets bringing Punch & Judy shows for youngsters as well as a photo exhibition and films introduced by Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey who star in them!

The festival’s artistic director Karen Koren – also artistic director of Gilded Balloon – explained the idea behind Happyness.

"This comedy festival won’t be like any other comedy festival in Scotland.

"I want it to be more of a destination type of event where lots of comedians work together.

"We’ve got more famous comedians and new ones and that is what it is about. About everyone learning their trade and audiences and tourists and locals to come along – and also to discover some new talents."

Bill Bailey – who will be performing two nights of the new show he’s taking on tour to Australia – also came up with the festival’s name, Karen revealed.

"I told him we were going to be doing the festival and wanted to come up with a name, something like Inversnecky.

"Bill said ‘Maybe they won’t like that! How about something like Happyness?’."

For full details, go to www.happy-ness.co.uk by clicking on the link below.
]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-150607 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z
The Scottish Open Golf Championship returns to the Highlands this year and will be staged at the magnificent Castle Stuart course situated between Inverness and Nairn on the Moray Firth coast. This year's event will be sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.


The 2011 Championship suffered from torrential rain which led to the postponement of play on Friday afternoon and the cancellation of play on Saturday. Everybody has their fingers crossed that 2012 will give the Castle Stuart team the gloriously sunny weather that they deserve for bringing such a brilliant event to Inverness


Meanwhile back in Inverness ....the Inverness Festivals Team are going to organise some great Bunkers Festival style City Centre entertainment on the evenings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from 7.30pm just to ensure the golf fans get the warmest of Highland welcomes!

Watch this space for further details of the programme that is being planned




]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-142455 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z

One of the big hits of 2011 was the Inverness Street Theatre Festival which was organised by Inverness BID and the Eastgate Shopping Centre.

Full details will be posted as soon as we get them!]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-124440 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z


The City of Inverness Kirking of the Council is a key event rooted in tradition dating back some 400 years. The Kirking involves a procession of Council members and officials from the Town House through the streets of Inverness to the oldest church in the City – the Old High Church. Followers of the procession then attend a service at the Old High Church to seek God’s blessing on the work of elected members, officials and the life of the City.

Colour and pageantry marks the occasion of the Kirking of the Council on Sunday 11 Septembe as the British Legion Pipes and Drums Band lead uniformed youth groups, together with officials and Councillors in bright red robes, in the procession from the Town House down Church Street to the Old High St Stephen's Church.

For an event to have survived 400 years throughout many changes in history indicates the strength of commitment from councillors, officials and the community to mark the annual Kirking of the Council.

]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-104856 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z DATES CONFIRMED

The 2012 Inverness Film Festival will take place at Eden Court Theatre on the 7th to 11th November 2012.

Organiser Paul Taylor is working hard behind the scenes to deliver an unforgettable programme - so watch this space in the weeks ahead for further details! ]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120201-102940 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z “Red Hot Highland Fling”, in Northern Meeting Park Arena .

The show was hosted by Craig Hill who ensured that the crowd was laughing throughout the night with a brilliant blend of enegy, warmth and gags which left everybody in no doubt why he is a hit wherever he goes.


The Fling featured a fourth band for the first time in the event’s history and one of the Highlands hottest new bands Hoodja who were the stars of July’s Inverness Bunkers Festival showed why they are gathering a huge and well deserved reputation throughout Scotland.

They were followed by a pounding set featuring Bags of Rock ; an thunderous Celtic / Rock crossover band fronted by by former Red Hot Chilli Piper’s frontman Gregor 'G-man' James.

The legendary Wolfstone have been chosen to turn up the heat. Since they were founded in 1989, Wolfstone have played Highland music combined with rock and roll to the delight of festival audiences everywhere and fiddler Duncan Chisholm and his colleagues more than delivered on their promise to present an unforgettable set slected from their repertoire of original songs and traditional folk classics for the gig.

Closing the show, on either side of a wedding proposal and a great fireworks display to welcome in 2012, were Skerryvore . Described as “…a living, breathing, 12-legged party waiting to happen” the band from the Isle of Tiree in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides features blazing bagpipes, fiddles and accordions and the mesmerising voice of singer Alec Daglish; they more than exceeded everybody's expectations.

2012 certainly has something to be someything special to follow a night attended by a delighted 10,000 plsus spectators.



]]> http://www.invernessfestivals.com/winter08/blog/index.php?entry=entry120101-140334 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z