One of the key features is going to be the first ever Festival of Architecture. Another event will be the re-opening of St. Peter's Seminary in Cardross in March. It will be the 50th anniversary of the opening of the building – described as Scotland's most significant modernist building – which was left abandoned in 1980.
Cairngorms Scenic Route – To be launched in 2016, this will be an outstanding scenic route along the eastern side of the Cairngorms National Park, from Glenshee to Grantown-on-Spey.
Activities, attractions, and exhibitions
Historic Scotland's Conservation Centre, The Engine Shed, Stirling – An ambitious project to create Scotland's first dedicated building conservation centre. It will be open to the public with family- friendly activities, craft demonstrations, and training courses to entertain and challenge.
The National Museum of Flight in East Lothian will complete its refurbishment in the spring, following a £3.6 million project. Work is underway to restore two nationally-significant WW2 hangars at the museum, and create exhibitions in them. The museum is on the UK's best-preserved WW2 airfield and has one of the best aviation collections in Europe. Visitors can explore the history of aviation from the WW1 to the present day.
Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre – A £4 million state-of-the-art visitor centre, opening in September, will showcase the role played by the engineers and builders who first brought hydro power to Scotland in 1951. Visitors will also learn about the secrets of the incredible annual journey made by salmon on their return to their native Perthshire rivers to spawn.
Wilderness Scotland is offering a range of self-drive tours. New tours include the North Coast 500, Scotland's answer to Route 66.
The Flying Scotsman locomotive will return to Scotland in May for the first time in 16 years after a major restoration. It will run from York to Edinburgh and then travel across the Forth Bridge as part of a four-day tour (May 14-17).
Celts: art and identity comes to the National Museum Scotland, Edinburgh, from March 10 to September 25. The exhibition tells the story of the different peoples who have used or been given the name 'Celts' through the stunning art objects that they made, including intricately-decorated jewellery, highly stylized objects of religious devotion, and the decorative arts of the late 19th century which were inspired by the past. Organized with the British Museum, this is the first major British exhibition in 40 years to tell the story of the Celts.
The Roxburghe Estates, Kelso, is investing in new garden features in the Victorian kitchen garden to create Scotland's finest walled garden. Access to new areas of the garden will be provided, including some of the greenhouses producing soft fruit and house plants.
· More space for books – With more than 45,000 items, the library has the largest open-access collection of Scottish poetry in the world.
· A soundproofed space so that sound and silence can co-exist in the library.
· A space for recording – poetry is spoken as well as written.
· More places to work and read comfortably.
· The Sound Lounge – for listening to recorded poetry.
Augmented Reality app brings Glasgow Art Scene to life for Turner Prize – Art venues across Glasgow are offering an inter-active touring experience that lets anyone access the hidden story of artworks through their smartphone via an app called the ‘Visual Arts Glasgow Tour’. It lets users access the story of an artwork in the form of a 60-second video by pointing their phone at selected artworks in the five participating venues. The interactive tour runs until January 17 to coincide with the three-month Turner Prize Exhibition Period in Glasgow.
Anniversaries … festivals … events
20th anniversary of the 'birth’ of Dolly the Sheep - Dolly (July 5, 1996-February 14, 2003) was a female domestic sheep, and the first animal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, and the bio-technology company PPL Therapeutics, near Edinburgh. Visitors will be able to see Dolly the Sheep at the National Museum of Scotland from summer 2016.
20th anniversary of the Coronation Stone of Scone being returned to Scotland – The rough-hewn block of gray sandstone was the coronation seat of Scottish kings until it was carried away as war booty by Edward I in 1296. In 1996, the British government decided that the stone should be kept in Scotland when not in use at coronations. In November 1996, after a handover ceremony at the border, it was transported to Edinburgh Castle.
150 year anniversary of the National Museum of Scotland – a £14.1 million project will lead to the creation of ten new galleries showcasing more than 3,000 objects museum’s collections of science and technology, decorative art, design, and fashion. Display space for the exhibits will increase by more than 40%, with three-quarters of them not having previously been on permanent display for generations. The new galleries will open in the summer, the 150th anniversary year of the opening of the building in 1866.
The Queen's 90th birthday will be celebrated by Royal Yacht Britannia (Edinburgh) which is planning a series of events in April.
The 10-year anniversary of The National Theatre of Scotland is being celebrated with a January to July programme. The tour will see the company travelling throughout Scotland, England, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe – Three exhibitions will be held in celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday and will be in each of her official residences (Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace, and Windsor Castle) during 2016. They open in April at Holyroodhouse, where the exhibition will highlight the use of tartan in royal dress.
40th anniversary of St Magnus International Festival – One of the world’s best-known arts festivals is hosting an extended 10-day celebration (June 17-26) featuring newly-commissioned music, poetry, and sculpture. It takes place over midsummer each year in Orkney; audiences enjoy broad daylight when leaving events at 11pm. Venues include one of Scotland's finest medieval, working cathedrals, St Magnus in Kirkwall, and a chapel built by Italian prisoners of war.
Glasgow International: Festival of Visual Art – This major biennial festival of visual art (April 8-25) will be the first in the city since hosting the Turner Prize in late 2015. Offering more exhibitions and events than ever, it will show works by Glasgow-based artists in museums, galleries, and off-site spaces.
Celtic Connections will see 2,500 musicians from around the world gather in Glasgow for 18 days (January 15-31) of concerts, ceilidhs, talks, art exhibitions, workshops, free events, late night sessions, and one-off musical collaborations.
The Cupar Arts Festival, Fife (June 18-25) returns after three years. This curated exhibition provides contemporary art in a rural setting, making the most of the town’s public buildings and outdoor spaces.
St Kilda Yacht Race – In the first St Kilda Challenge yacht race (June 9-11), yachts will berth at Lochmaddy Marina on North Uist in readiness for a parade of sail to the start line in the Sound of Harris. On June 10, the main race covers approximately 100 nautical miles in 24 hours.
Getting there –
· Virgin Trains – London-Stirling direct
· Flybe – Liverpool-Edinburgh
· British Airways – New daily flights from Heathrow to Inverness, gateway to the Highlands and Islands. The year-round service will start on May 3.
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