Enjoy a Highland fling this summer

From Shakespeare to seabirds, films to food, and the heavies of the Highland games, there are literally hundreds of events to experience across Scotland this summer. June sees the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the world’s top riders revisit the dramatic setting of Fort William. Further north the Rock Ness festival returns to the shores of Loch Ness, while music of an altogether more classical kind descends upon resplendent Stirling Castle, featuring an evening with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival's 62nd year is set to be one of it’s biggest to date, with stars such as Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller due to attend the dates moved forward to June for the first time. The Borders Book Festival will also boast some of the top names in literature, including both Iain Banks and Ian Rankin.

July features one of the UK’s biggest music festivals, T in the Park, with headliners REM, and Scotland’s own, The Fratellis. The Hebridean Celtic Festival also boasts a cast of international and world class performers, including Seth Lakeman and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

The City of Inverness Highland Games, the biggest Highland Games staged in the North of Scotland, includes a full programme of heavy events, athletics, dancing, traditional music and special guests, The Proclaimers.

Further south and running through the centre of Glasgow, the city’s River Festival is a two-day celebration of the River Clyde with ships, power boats, stalls and events on both water and land.

Music features strongly in the month of August as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and its unique blend of ceremony and entertainment is set against the magnificent backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

In Glasgow, the International Piping Festival features thousands of pipers from around the world, while the World Pipe Band Championships come to Glasgow Green.

The splendidly scenic Mull of Kintyre Music Festival also celebrates both traditional and contemporary Scottish and Irish music amidst stunning surroundings, while the Belladrum music festival returns to Beauly, in the Highlands, for its fifth year, with headliners Scouting for Girls and The Waterboys.

Edinburgh will stage the Fringe, with its huge programme of theatre, comedy, dance and music acts, while the annual cultural extravaganza which is the Edinburgh International Festival returns for another exciting year of dance, opera and theatre.

To find out more, see Visitscotland.com.