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.
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
[ 8 comments ]
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.
[ 3 comments ]
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!
[ 20 comments ]
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.
[ 1 comment ]
2012 is Olympic Year and INVERNESS has been awarded a very special honour.
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.
[ 3 comments ] | related link
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.
[ 20 comments ] | related link
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