Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

hosts on average 200 festivals per year, ranging from

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

and

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

. The

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

is the world's largest arts festival, and the country is also renowned for its hosting and organisation of sporting festivals and cultural events. Considered the birthplace of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, Scotland has hosted

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

tournament 97 times, more than any other country, and hosted international sporting events such as the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

three times. Below is a list of some festivals in Scotland, either held annually or occasionally, as well as international sporting fixtures of which Scotland has been the sole host nation, or part of a joint–hosting duty.

Annual festivals in Scotland

* 25 January:

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are usually held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night (; ) ...

* 6 April:

Tartan Day Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage and the cultural contributions of Scottish and Scottish-diaspora figures of history. The name refers to tartan, a patterned woollen cloth associated with Scotland. The event originated in Nova ...

* May–September: Highland Games * 27 May-4 June: Children's Festival * 14–23 July: Jazz and Blues Festival * August:

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Festivals (

Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of ...

) * 30 November:

St Andrew's Day Saint Andrew's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. It is celebrated on 30 November, during Scotland's Winter Festival. Saint Andrew is the disciple in the New Testament who introduc ...

* 31 December:

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots language, Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 ...

* 17 May - 3 June Six Cities Design Festival

Types of festivals

Religious

Beltane Fire Festival Beltane Fire Festival is an annual participatory arts event and ritual, held on 30 April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. Historical background The modern Beltane Fire Festival is inspired by the ancient Gaelic festival of Beltane which began on ...

Sports

Highland Games

Cowal Highland Gathering The Cowal Highland Gathering (also known as the Cowal Games) is an annual Highland games held in Dunoon, Scotland, over the final weekend in August. It is held at Dunoon Stadium. History The first record of an organised Highland games in the ...

Crieff Highland Games The Crieff Highland Gathering was founded in 1870 at Crieff in Scotland. It has been a regular fixture in August every year except during World War I and between 1939-1949. The Highland games on the weekend of 15th and 16 August 2020 were cance ...

Dinnie Stones The Dinnie Stones (also called Stanes or Steens) are a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire. They were made famous by strongman Donald Dinnie, who reportedly carried the stones barehanded across the width of the Pot ...

* The Gathering 2009 *

Highlander Challenge World Championships The Highlander Challenge World Championships (or more simply the Highlander Challenge or Gododdin Highlander Challenge) is a tournament that marries traditional Highland games with more contemporary strength athletics. It was created to help r ...

* Inverness Highland Games

Commonwealth Games host nation

–

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first time metric units rather than imperial units were used in all eve ...

* Edinburgh –

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

–

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

International football competition hosts

* 1888 World Championship (football) * 1889 World Championship (football) * 1970 UEFA European Under-18 Championship *

1985 Rous Cup The 1985 Rous Cup was the first staging of the Rous Cup international football competition, initially established to continue the then-traditional annual game between rivals England and Scotland following the demise of the British Home Champions ...

1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–OFC play-off) The 1986 FIFA World Cup UEFA– OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the second-placed team from the UEFA Group 7, Scotland. The games were played ...

1987 Rous Cup The 1987 Rous Cup was the third staging of the Rous Cup annual international football match that increased the teams from the two rivals of England and Scotland to increase the competition experience for FA to invite Brazil. Brazil successful ...

1988 Rous Cup The 1988 Rous Cup was the fourth staging of the Rous Cup international football competition, based around the England–Scotland football rivalry. For the second year in succession, a third team was invited to create a three-team tournament. A ...

1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship The 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the third edition of the tournament, was held in the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Motherwell, Aberdeen, and Dundee between 10 and 24 June 1989. Players born after 1 August 1972 could participate in ...

1989 Rous Cup The 1989 Rous Cup was the fifth and final staging of the Rous Cup international football competition, based around the England–Scotland football rivalry. As in the previous two years, a South American team was also invited to compete in a tr ...

1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 16th edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship, European Under-16 Football Championship. Scotland hosted the championship, during 26 April – 8 May 1998. Players born on or after 1 ...

Football at the 2005 Island Games – Men's tournament The 2005 Island Games in the Shetland Islands was the 9th edition in which a men's Football at the Island Games, football tournament was played at the multi-games competition. It was contested by 10 teams. The Shetland Islands won the tournament f ...

2010 CPISRA Football 7-a-side European Championships The 2010 CPISRA Football 7-a-side European Championships was the European championship for men's national 7-a-side association football teams. CPISRA stands for Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association. Athletes with cerebral ...

Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics The association football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held from 25 July to 11 August, and was the only sport to begin before the official opening day of the Olympic Games, two days before the opening ceremony. It was also the only ...

2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Women's Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (22nd edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual international youth football champ ...

UEFA Euro 2028 The 2028 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2028 or simply Euro 2028, will be the 18th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international association football, football championship. It will be co-hoste ...

* British Home Amateur Championship *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

Football World Championship The Football World Championship, also known as the United Kingdom Championship or the International Club Championship, was an exhibition association football match played between the English and Scottish club champions (either national cup or lea ...

Four Nations Tournament (1979–2008) The Four Nations Tournament was an annual football competition in Europe contested by semi-professional national teams. England were the most successful side with seven wins and they won the last edition in 2008. The original competition was h ...

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...

1901–02 World Championship (football) The 1901–02 World Championship was an exhibition game, exhibition association football, football match that took place at High Road Ground (the erstwhile name of White Hart Lane) on 2 September 1901

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

Rugby World Cup hosts

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

1994 Women's Rugby World Cup The 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup was the second world cup for women. It was originally scheduled to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands (10–24 April) but was cancelled only weeks before. However, a replacement competition was organised around the ...

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

Golf

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hi ...

–

1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...

1861 This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire. Events January * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico Ci ...

1862 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...

1863 Events January * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing ...

1864 Events January * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dream ...

1865 Events January * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Unio ...

1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...

1867 There were only 354 days this year in the newly purchased territory of Alaska. When the territory transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States, the calendric transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar was made with only 1 ...

1868 Events January * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsu ...

1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...

1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

1881 Events January * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 10 – The Aceh Sultanate was fully annexed by the Dutch forces, deposing the last sultan, marking the end of the Aceh War that have lasted for al ...

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

–

1873 Events January * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat the Unit ...

1876 Events January * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. *January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts. February * Febr ...

1879 Events January * January 1 ** The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. ** Brahms' Violin Concerto is premiered in Leipzig with Joseph Joachim ...

1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Musselburgh Links Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, is one of the oldest golf courses in the world. The course is not to be confused with The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club or the Levenhall Links. Musselburgh Links is ...

–

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

1877 Events January * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India by the Royal Titles Act 1876, introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sioux War of 1876: Batt ...

1880 Events January *January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." gr ...

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for T ...

–

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire. The club was established in 1878, and originally only consisted of five holes whereas today, it has increased to a total of 45 holes. Its Old Course i ...

–

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Carnoustie Golf Links Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie G ...

–

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

** Turnberry –

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Sports and cultural

Fort William Mountain Festival The Fort William Mountain Festival is an annual festival of mountain culture held in Fort William, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Unit ...

Arts

* Aberdeen Alternative Festival *

Aberdeen International Youth Festival Aberdeen International Youth Festival was a festival of performing arts and one of Scotland's major international cultural events, which ran from 1981 to 2017. Each year the festival brought over 1000 young people in performing arts companies ...

Craigmillar Festival Society The Craigmillar Festival Society (CFS) was a community arts organisation in the Craigmillar area of Edinburgh, Scotland, that ran from 1962 to 2002. It is regarded as an important contributor to the Community Arts Movement. Many of its producti ...

Cupar Arts Festival Cupar Arts Festival is a biennial arts festival that takes place in Cupar, Scotland for twelve days in October. More than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the 2013 festival, which will feature 40 artists from around the world and was welcomed ...

* Edinburgh Annuale *

Edinburgh Art Festival The Edinburgh Art Festival is an annual visual arts festival, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, during August and coincides with the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh International and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fringe festivals. The Art Fes ...

* Edinburgh International Magic Festival *

Edinburgh Mela The Edinburgh Mela is an annual multi-cultural festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is one of the 12 festivals that make up the Edinburgh Festival. The first ''mela'', a Sanskrit word meaning "gathering" or "to meet", was held in 1995 at Me ...

* Edinburgh People's Festival * Fèis Bharraigh * GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland *

Glasgay! Festival Glasgay! Festival was a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender arts festival in Glasgow, Scotland. From 1993 to 2014 it was part of the diversity of Glasgow's cultural scene, an annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Arts Festival held ...

* Glasgow International *

Glasgow International Comedy Festival Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a comedy festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The comedy festival started in 2002 and is held annually in March in venues across the city. The festival's aim is to have the biggest impact of any comedy festival ...

* Edinburgh festivals *

Mòd A mòd is a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture. Historically, the Gaelic word ''mòd'' (), which came from Old Norse ''mót'', refers to a Viking Age '' Thing'' or a similar kind of assembly. There are both local mòds, and an an ...

St Magnus Festival The St Magnus International Festival is an annual, week-long arts festival which takes place at midsummer on the islands of Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland. History and management The festival was founded in 1977 by a group inc ...

* Syn Festival Edinburgh

Film festivals

Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival is an annual film festival and the flagship event of Alchemy Film & Arts that takes place each year in the Scottish Borders town of Hawick. Founded in 2010, it has grown to be considered as one of the key ...

* Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams *

Celtic Media Festival The Celtic Media Festival, formerly known as the Celtic Film and Television Festival, aims to promote the languages and cultures of the Celtic nations in film, on television, radio and new media. The festival is an annual three-day celebration ...

* Deep Fried Film Festival * Screenplay Film Festival * SQIFF *

Africa in Motion Africa in Motion (AiM) is an annual African film festival which takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in late October/early November. The primary aim of the festival is to offer audiences in Scotland the opportunity to view the best of African cin ...

* Dead by Dawn *

Edinburgh Greek Festival The Edinburgh Greek Festival is a festival of Greek film and one of the cultural festivals in Edinburgh. Its organisation involves individuals from Southern Europe. It is an international festival that features mostly Greek films or films about ...

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is an independent film festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, which aims to inspire, enlighten and entertain outdoor enthusiasts such as climbers, skiers or snowboarders, kayakers, BASE jumpers or explorers. It is ...

* Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival * Italian Film Festival * Scotland Loves Animation *

The Scottish Short Film Festival The Scottish Short Film Festival was an independent film festival which has taken place annually in Scotland from 2012 to 2022. From 2012 to 2017, the festival was known as The Raptor Filmz Short Scottish Film Festival until the event was rebrand ...

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...

* GLITCH Film Festival * Southside Film Festival (Glasgow)

Literary festivals

* Aye Write *

Bloody Scotland Bloody Scotland is a Scottish international Crime fiction, crime writing festival, held annually in Stirling, Scotland. It was founded in 2012 by Tartan Noir writers Lin Anderson and Alex Gray (author), Alex Gray and describes itself as "the liter ...

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

Lennoxlove House Lennoxlove House is a historic house set in woodlands half a mile south of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. The house comprises a 15th-century tower, originally known as Lethington Castle, and has been extended several times, principally i ...

* Mòd *

Royal National Mòd The Royal National Mòd () is an Eisteddfod-inspired international Celtic festival focusing upon Scottish Gaelic literature, traditional music, and culture which is held annually in Scotland. It is the largest of several major Scottish Mòd ...

West Port Book Festival The West Port Book Festival was a book festival which was held in Edinburgh from 2008 to 2012. Initially it took place in August during the busy Edinburgh Festival season, but later it was held at different times in the year. The festival was ...

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); ) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. It is known as "Scotl ...

Wigtown Book Festival The Wigtown Book Festival is a ten-day literary festival held each autumn in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The festival was first held in 1999 and has grown to be the second biggest book festival in Scotland. 2024 Festival ...

Word – University of Aberdeen writers festival Word – University of Aberdeen writers festival was a book festival that took place from 1999 until 2011, initially every two years and latterly every year, over a weekend of May at the University of Aberdeen. Authors, thinkers and commentators f ...

Comedy festivals

Edinburgh Comedy Festival Edinburgh Comedy Festival was a short-lived festival of comedy shows which operated during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2008 and 2009. Effectively a marketing campaign for the "Big Four" venues at the Fringe - Assembly, Gilded Ballo ...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

* The Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival *

Music festivals

* Aberdeen and NE Scotland Music Festival *

Argyllshire Gathering The Argyllshire Gathering is a Highland games held in Oban, Scotland. History A meeting on 23 August 1871 held at the Argyll Arms Hotel led to a resolution to have an "Annual Gathering of the Gentry of the County of Argyll for social purposes". ...

* Big Beach Busk * Big Burns Supper Festival * Big in Falkirk * Callander Jazz and Blues Festival *

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

Connect Music Festival Connect Music Festival is a Scottish music festival. It took place at the Royal Highland Centre Showgrounds in Edinburgh in 2022 and 2023, having been revived from the previous format of the festival, which was held in the grounds of Inverar ...

* Darvel Music Festival * Eden Festival * The Edge Festival * Edinburgh International Harp Festival * Fèis Bharraigh *

Fingask Castle Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is perched above Rait, three miles (5 km) north-east of Errol, Perth and Kinross, Errol, in the Braes of the Carse, on the fringes of the Sidlaw Hills. Thus it overlook ...

Give it a Name Give it a Name, also known as GIAN (and Give It a Name Incoming in 2009), named after an At the Drive-In song, was an annual British rock music festival, normally held on the weekend nearest to the end of April. The first festival took place o ...

Glasgow International Jazz Festival Glasgow International Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in Glasgow, Scotland. Main Festival The Glasgow International Jazz Festival is held annually in June in the Merchant City area of Glasgow. The main, open-air stage is situated in George S ...

* Glasgow Summer Sessions *

Hebridean Celtic Festival The Hebridean Celtic Festival (Scottish Gaelic: Fèis Cheilteach Innse Gall) or HebCelt is an international Scottish music festival, which takes place annually in Stornoway on Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Headliners to date in ...

* Isle of Skye Music Festival * Killin Music Festival *

Knockengorroch Knockengorroch is a world music festival held annually among the Carsphairn Hills in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. From its founding in 1998 until 2010 there were two annual festivals: the World Ceilidh Festival, usually held around the end o ...

* Leith Festival *

Let's Rock ''Let's Rock'' (known as ''Keep It Cool'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1958 rock and roll film starring Julius LaRosa as a crooner attempting to fight off the rival music rock and roll, Phyllis Newman as his songwriting girlfriend who convinces ...

* List of festivals in Glasgow *

Live at Loch Lomond Live at Loch Lomond was a concert festival that took place at Balloch Country Park in 2007 and 2008. The inaugural festival took place from August 4 to August 5, 2007. Nearly 30,000 people attended over the two days. Main bands performing were D ...

Loopallu Festival Loopallu was a 2-day music festival that took place in Ullapool, in the north of Scotland. It was held annually between 2005 and 2019, attracting 2,500 people which essentially doubled the population of the village while the event was being hel ...

* Mòd *

Montrose Music Festival Montrose Music Festival is an annual event, taking place at the end of May in Montrose, Angus, Scotland. The festival first took place in 2008 and is organised by volunteers on a non-profit basis. It won the "Pride of Angus Award" in 2008. The ...

Musica Nova Festival, Glasgow Musica Nova is a triennial festival of contemporary music presented jointly by Glasgow University and the Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) () is a Scottish orchestra, based in Glasgow. It is one of the ...

Northern Meeting The Northern Meeting is a gathering held in Inverness, Scotland, best known for its solo bagpiping competition in September. History The Northern Meeting was set up in 1798 "for the purpose of promoting a Social Intercourse", and early editions f ...

The Outsider Festival The Outsider Festival was a music and comedy festival held in 2007 in the Rothiemurchus Estate near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. It was a festival with green credentials and attracted 9,000 attendees on each of the two days that it was h ...

* Perthshire Amber *

Piping Live! Festival The Piping Live! Festival (a.k.a. Piping Hot Festival) is an annual bagpiping event held in Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central S ...

Rewind Festival The Rewind Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Temple Island Meadows, Remenham, Berkshire near Henley-on-Thames, England, Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire, England, and Scone Palace, Perthshire in Scotland. It was first held in ...

RockNess RockNess was an annual music festival which took place in Scotland at Clune Farm, Dores, on the banks of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The festival was known as "the most beautiful festival in the world" and "the only festival with its ...

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Ca ...

* Skye Live Festival * Southside Fringe Festival * Tiree Music Festival *

TRNSMT TRNSMT (pronounced as "Transmit") is a music festival staged at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, organised by DF Concerts. History An early line-up for the first TRNSMT festival was revealed in January 2017, two months after the announceme ...

** TRNSMT festival lineups *

Wickerman Festival The Wickerman Festival was an annual music festival held near Auchencairn in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", its motto was "The Wickerman Festival – it's better than it needs to be!" It beg ...

References

{{Europe topic, Festivals in Scotland Events in Scotland