Edinburgh is festival city in the summer with the biggest arts festival in the world but a new fetival this month aims to extend the festival season . Previously … Scotland’s History Festival is a two week celebration of Scotland’s history in the run up to St Andrew’s Day.
Over 200 events will take place in castles, pubs, museums, libraries and the Scottish Parliament. The new festival will be opened by Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, on November 17 and run until November 30.
“We have treasure waiting to be rediscovered, from the joyous ribaldry of a 16th-century poetic slanging match to an exploration of the food and drink we’ve consumed over the centuries,” promises Susan Morrison, one of the directors of the festival.We have a huge historical canvas to clean and evaluate with the help of our brilliant historians, who can help us take a long, cool look at our past as we stand on the threshold of a turbulent, dramatic future.
Scotland’s history festival was created to bring our history out into the streets. We aim to bring the history made by Scotland’s people closer to Scotland’s people.”
From town planning to stripping and paper mills to the procurator fiscal, there are some surprising aspects of Scotland’s past being examined. Here are some of the events:
A Robert Louis Stevenson Evening, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, November 17
Author Ian Rankin and comedian Nigel Planer chat about their lifelong fascination with the writer Robert Louis Stevenson