Belladrum is please to announce the Seedlings Stage line up. Again we are bringing you a selection of the stars of tomorrow, with a line up featuring some of the fastest rising talent in the UK.

Sandstone Press is proud to announce that its latest book release, Ron McMillan’s BETWEEN WEATHERS, Travels in 21st Century Shetland, is a nominee for the 2008 Saltire Society Literary Awards.
30 June 2008

The 200th anniversary of a scientist isolating the metal strontium is being marked in the Highlands village which played a key role in its discovery.

This week sees the highly successful Fèisean Cèilidh Trails hit the road once again. In 2007 more than 30 young people aged between 16 and 22 took the opportunity to spend their summer holidays performing traditional music to audiences in and around their local areas. This year will see the launch of a new Cèilidh Trail in the Western Isles, opening up the opportunity to 8 additional talented young musicians.
26 June 2008

The Anna Massie Band are set for another busy summer with a full UK tour taking them across England and Scotland and then heading off to the US to play a prestigious folk festival.
26 June 2008

The Ullapool Guitar Festival has confirmed online guitar portal www.italkguitar.com as a sponsor for their next festival which runs from the 10th-12th October.
26 June 2008

Eden Court has today been announced as the winner of the Community Benefit prize at the RICS Scotland (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland) Awards 2008.
26 June 2008

Organisers are delighted to announce that tickets for the year’s SPEYFEST have been flying off the shelf, with sales to date through The Booth web-site (http://www.thebooth.co.uk) far exceeding those of previous years. But as the dates for this year’s festival draw ever closer they are pleased to announce that for the people that prefer to pick up their tickets in person the Speyfest sales office will be open as usual in front of the Public Institute on the High Street in Fochabers from Wednesday 25th June from 5 – 7 PM and on Wednesdays to Saturday thereafter for the same opening hours………so there’s still time to snap up tickets for this amazing festival.

25 June 2008

HI~Arts is pleased to announce the launch of a new suite of funding schemes for artists across artforms based in the Highlands and Islands.
25 June 2008

Edwin Morgan has won the £25,000 Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award for his latest collection of poetry, A Book of Lives.
23 June 2008

A European song contest held in Inverness which focused on Celtic and Scots languages has been hailed as a resounding success across the world.
23 June 2008

Highland Council invite you to a public consultation on the location of the New Highland Gallery and Museum in Inverness. Inverness Town House, Wednesday 25 June 2008, 18.30 – 21.30.
20 June 2008

A Rake’s Progress, an exhibition of drawings, paintings, prints and objects by Diana Leslie, will open at Porteous Brae Gallery in Dundas Street, Stromness, on Friday 20 June.
19 June 2008

Straight Letters by Camilla Løw will be on display at the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness from June 20th until September 6th.
19 June 2008

The Council of Europe and other international organisations have praised the regional final of a prestigious new European singing competition which is set to be hosted in Inverness.
19 June 2008

Plans to replace Scotland's two main arts quangos with a new body have been thrown out by parliament.
19 June 2008

SPEYFEST tickets have already been flying off the “cyber-shelf” through The Booth web-site www.thebooth.co.uk  with sales well up on this point last year particularly for the Thursday and Friday concerts.
19 June 2008

Artists, craftworkers and galleries across the Highlands and Islands will benefit from two new appointments which have just been made by HI~Arts, the arts development agency contracted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
19 June 2008

Following the very popular concerts from Michael Marra and Bruce MacGregor, this Sunday (22 June ) Glen Urquhart Public Hall has the Sermon Organ Trio.
19 June 2008

Now in its 4th year Loopallu has built up the reputation of being the best small festival around. We are delighted to confirm that the wonderful Janice Long (BBC Radio 2) will be joining us again in 2008 as our compare.
19 June 2008

Award-winning television writer and producer Geoff Holder will be giving an illustrated talk and signing copies of his recently published book 'The Guide to Mysterious Loch Ness and the Inverness area' at the Loch Ness Visitor Centre, Drumnadrochit on Friday 20 June at 1pm. Free entry.
19 June 2008

Sunday teatime will never be the same! Following Glenurquhart Public Hall's very popular concerts from Michael Marra and Bruce MacGregor, this Sunday they have the Sermon Organ Trio. It's an odd name, but there's nothing odd about the music! The Trio are Malcolm MacFarlane on guitar (who's played with Jamie Cullum, Barbara Thompson and the Scottish Guitar Quartet), Paul Harrison on the Ham­mond organ (Carol Kidd, BBC Radio Big Band) and Adam Sorenson on drums (fresh from NYC, folks!).

18 June 2008

Fèis an Eilein – the Skye Festival, including the Aos Dàna’ Book Festival runs from Saturday 12 to Saturday 26 July 2008 and was awarded ‘Best Event in Highland 2007’.

18 June 2008

Artmap Argyll Open Studio Weekend will take place from 2nd to 3rd August, 10am-5pm.
18 June 2008

Chi Weapon is an unsigned band based in Glasgow that features members from Isle of Skye and Isle of Bute and will play the famous Wickerman Festival this year on the Summerisle main stage. Chi Weapon will play on Friday 25th July, which is already sold out, alongside Gary Numan, KT Tunstall, The Fall and many more signed and infamous bands.

18 June 2008

Come and enjoy an informal evening of jazz and "swing" - in aid of Maggies Highland.

18 June 2008

The second annual Arts Feast Cowal takes place from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd June 2008. This creative festival combines art and food in unusual venues all over Cowal.
18 June 2008

Two rare chances for that ‘up close and personal’ concert experience on 21 & 22 June 2008.
17 June 2008

Ceumannan (footsteps or paths in Gaelic) invites you to explore Staffin’s Ecomuseum in north-east Skye.
17 June 2008

38F are a new all female band, featuring Sarah Roberts on guitar, Amy Geddes on fiddle, singer Anne Sofie Linge Valdal and Hardanger fiddler, Annlaug Borsheim.
17 June 2008

Inverness is set to host the regional final of a prestigious new European singing competition which will attract an internet audience from around the world.
17 June 2008

‘Aos Dàna’ The Skye Book Festival – just one book!
16 June 2008

The Traverse Theatre has launched its 2008 Festival Season Manifesto. Featuring some of the best theatre companies from the UK and abroad across the two Traverse spaces, the season will officially begin on Fri 1 August and run until Sun 24 August.

12 June 2008

On 26 May workshops were held in The Loft, Keith to give young people in the area an insight into filmmaking, animation and digital photography. Following the workshops the participants signed up for further sessions with professional artists Tim Flood, Charlie Wilson and Jemima Chillingworth.


12 June 2008

On 8th July Scottish Ballet will be appearing at Elgin Town Hall performing pieces from their award winning repertoire. The programme will include excerpts from multi award-winning choreographer Stephen Petronio's high octane Ride The Beast, set to the soaring sound of Radiohead; Aria, from Krzysztof Pastor’s exuberant In Light and Shadow, and Othello, a powerful dance drama based on Shakespeare’s famous tale of betrayal and choreographed by Scottish Ballet's founding director Peter Darrell. The evening will also include premieres from two of Scottish Ballet’s very own dancers. Träume by Gregory Dean, a dreamscape sound-tracked by warm, melodic music from French artist Colleen, and Lull, a brand new work choreographed by Peter Darrell Choreographic Award winner, Diana Loosmore, featuring music by Mercury Music Prize nominees Basquiat Strings.

12 June 2008

How can the creative industries use their economic pulling-power to change society for the better? What kinds of values should the arts represent? Is art a kind of social activism? How can culture mediate in conflict and is there a place for artists in war zones?

12 June 2008

The Cultural Workplace Survey are running a national online survey of people working in the cultural and creative industries. The work is for the Cultural Leadership Programme (backed by Arts Council England, MLA and CC Skills) about people working in the cultural industries – about how they feel about their career progress, their aspirations and what would help them in the future. The Cultural Workplace Survey are looking to have a final ‘push’ to get more responses in your area before their closing deadline of Monday 16th June.


12 June 2008

From November 2007, the National Theatre of Scotland Learn Team has been working together with nine youth theatres from across Scotland and a team of professional theatre artists, in preparation for Exchange, a week-long youth theatre festival taking place at Eden Court, Inverness from 1st to 5th July. Now in its third year, the National Theatre of Scotland’s vibrant Exchange Festival provides the opportunity for enthusiastic young theatre-makers to create and perform new and exciting pieces of theatre. The young people are encouraged and supported in exploring new ideas and in taking creative risks with their theatre creations. The programme culminates in a high profile week-long festival of the young people’s work. This year’s theme is ‘my space’.

12 June 2008

Resolis Community Arts will break their self-imposed summer silence to host a remarkable quartet and special guests in celebration of the Summer Solstice on Saturday 21st June 2008.
12 June 2008

An exhibition from the Hayward Gallery in London of the prints of South American artist Ana Maria Pacheco goes on show on at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery this Saturday (14 June) for a month.
12 June 2008

In 2006 photographer Robin Gillanders set out in writer and poet Edwin Muir’s footsteps to make an extended journey around the Highlands and Orkney inspired by Muir’s travels. A selection of photographs will be on tour throughout the Highlands over the coming months.
12 June 2008

A delightful selection of Louis Wain’s very recognisable and much loved cats is now on at the Swanson Gallery, Thurso for 4 weeks and will move to St Fergus Gallery, Wick later in the summer.
12 June 2008

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh is the first University in the UK to offer a Masters in Science (MSc) in Dance Movement Psychotherapy in the UK.

12 June 2008

Many of the greatest professional golfers and some of the best known amateurs from the worlds of entertainment and sport are set to return to St Andrews, the Home of Golf, this autumn to do battle in the 2008 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship from October 2-5.
11 June 2008

Hailing from the Isle of Lewis, Sunrise not Secular are the hottest new band to emerge on the Celtic Rock scene. The band are known locally for their distinctive Celtic music, merging Gaelic and English writing with their own individual sound. They've already put their name of the map by supporting international acts such as Runrig and The Sawdoctors and appearing on popular Gaelic music show, Rapal. Now they're releasing their first EP – "Toiseach an Turais" (meaning start of the journey) at a showcase gig at the Woodlands Centre in their hometown, Stornoway, on the 26th June.
11 June 2008

The Chroma Chamber Ensemble is to return to Shetland for a series of concerts and school workshops. Chroma, who regularly make the trip north, will play in the Town Hall, Lerwick on Thursday 19 June 2008 as part of the Shetland Arts classical music programme and the Johnsmas Foy, before heading into Fair Isle where they played during their first visit in 2002.

11 June 2008

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s second Highlands tour of the summer sees performances of popular classics in Strathpeffer, Portree and Fort William from 10 – 12 July.

The Hunger Mountain Boys from Massachusetts fly back across the Atlantic intent on keeping their reputation as one of the hottest bands on the US roots music circuit, intact.


11 June 2008

Porteous Brae Gallery in Stromness is to host a lecture next week by one of the country’s most widely respected artists, on the subject of texts and colour designs for wind turbines. Alec Finlay is currently artist in residence with NaREC in Blyth, Northumberland, a research and development platform for new energy technologies.

11 June 2008

Inverness classical music-lovers are in for a treat next week . A Lunchtime Piano Recital performed and introduced by Robin Colvill, one of the most versatile pianists performing in Britain today, will take place at the Town House on Monday 16 June 2008.
11 June 2008

Please read on for information about events in Orkney: Skyings, A Rakes Progress, Mailboats and Instant Stroma.


11 June 2008

Am bliadhna, tha Fèis Eilean an Fhraoich air taic-airgid fhaotainn airson sreath chuirmean-chiùil a chuir air dòigh air feadh nan Eilean Siar ann an co-bhonn le Fèisean eile san sgìre.
11 June 2008

The Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy was founded in 1986 with the aim of promoting and supporting contemporary Scottish art. As part of this role they created the RSA Friends Bursary, the purpose of which is to enable artists to continue and extend their creative development.
11 June 2008

Right Lines Productions is a Moray-based theatre company, Right Lines Productions will have two shows appearing at this year's Edinburgh Fringe: The Accidental Death of An Accordionist & Whisky Kisses.

11 June 2008

Another wonderful Pictish discovery has been made in Shetland. A sculptured stone decorated with mysterious symbols has been found in Cunningsburgh, a part of Shetland where many inscribed stones have been found over the years.
11 June 2008

Local young musicians are being invited to make their voices, and music, heard by participating in an exciting new project, run by the Moray Council.
10 June 2008

HI~Arts is very pleased to announce a new and important extension to its highly successful critical reading project for writers – Work In Progress.
10 June 2008

Groam House Museum, the small independent organisation situated in the seaside village of Rosemarkie, has received news this week that it has been successful in a bid for new Heritage Lottery Fund support towards developing a national collection of Celtic Art.
05 June 2008

Sandstone Press are delighted to announce the publication of the first original travelogue of Shetland for over 150 years.
05 June 2008

Join Scottish Harp player, Rachel Hair and Gaelic singer and Scottish step dancer, Joy Dunlop, for an evening of the finest Scottish Traditional Music and Song.
05 June 2008

An exhibition promoting environmental awareness through art opens at The Ruthven Gallery in Auchterarder this week. Opening on ‘World Environment Day’ – 5th June 2008 – the exhibition explores the destruction that is caused by climate change.

04 June 2008

Fèis na h-Òige is a Gaelic-medium fèis that will be held in Inverness during this year's school summer holidays.

A major new book award was recently launched to celebrate the life and writing of Robin Jenkins, widely regarded as Scotland's greatest writer of the twentieth century. With a £5,000 prize for a work of either fiction or non fiction, The Robin Jenkins Literary Award was launched at the National Library of Scotland on Thursday 29th May by Michael Russell, Minister for Environment.

04 June 2008

Tickets are now on sale for the first Celtic & Scots languages song contest to be held in the Highlands as part of a number of regional competitions across Europe.
03 June 2008

Young people from across the Highlands and Islands and beyond are being urged to have their say in a major online survey launched this week to discover the deciding factors behind living and working in the region.
03 June 2008

Fèis na h-Òige is a Gaelic-medium fèis which offers Gaelic speaking children the opportunity to develop their skills in traditional Gaelic music and song, drama, dance, shinty and art.
03 June 2008

The fastest growing Gaelic and traditional music festival in the UK is about to take to the skies as part of its new programme for 2008.
02 June 2008

HI~Arts in association with an talla solais is delighted to be able to announce that it will be holding two poetry workshops led by the acclaimed Australian poet Les Murray, to accompany his reading in Ullapool on 11th June. Les Murray is Australia's leading poet and one of the greatest contemporary poets writing in English. His work has been published in ten languages. http://www.antallasolais.org  

02 June 2008