Homecoming

Homecoming Live

The cynic might have viewed this musical finale to the Scottish Government’s grand attempt to reel back a few ex-pat Kiwis and Canucks in terms of all the iconic and available Scots bands who weren’t playing. Where were Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas…

SCO Homecoming Concert

As Scotland’s Year of Homecoming draws to a close, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra pays tribute to three of the country’s finest composers with a special focus on Edward Harper who died earlier this year. In the world premiere performance of the complete…

This Is Who We Are

Approximately 1000 places in Canada derive their names from Scottish origins. As part of the Year of Homecoming, this exhibition explores the links between Scotland and Canada, bringing together a number of community photography projects which are…

Songs of Home

We find out about a festival and a screening looking at the darker sides of the Scottish Diaspora

Between the numerous gigs, gatherings and soap carving workshops (we kid you not) squeezing under its umbrella, ‘Homecoming’ itself has become a rather vague concept this year. It’s refreshing, then, that in their 20th anniversary year the Scottish…

Hear this! - Upcoming gigs and albums Autumn 2009

SEPTEMBER 14 Sep Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 After ‘retirement’, Glastonbury and gigs converting Coldplay fans to the joys of rap music, his masterful album trilogy is now complete. 14 Sep Muse The Resistance The band’s fifth album, it’s tinged…

The Silver Darlings preview

As the Year of Homecoming enters its final stretch, it seems a more appropriate time than ever to celebrate the achievements of Neil M Gunn’s epic Highland novel, The Silver Darlings. A new stage adaptation by playwright Peter Arnott and director Kenny…

60 Years of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo

The Festival's most extravagant event celebrates its anniversary

Of all Edinburgh’s August happenings, the Military Tattoo is perhaps the most iconic. With its fairytale setting – the majestic esplanade of Edinburgh Castle – and the impeccable Massed Pipes and Drums, as well as a dazzling array of international…

Best of the Rest - Politics

Political highlights at the Edinburgh Festivals

Highlights include Annie Lennox and the SING campaign, From Darwin to Dolly: And Beyond, A Life in Politics: Dennis Canavan, Devolution and the Arts, Young Peoples Question Time, Burns' Radical Voice and Love But Her

The Home Season: Pitlochry Festival Theatre

As the curtain comes down on another packed season of theatre in the Central Belt, and with the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe waiting in the wings, it’s worth casting an eye over the superb series of Scottish plays currently running at Pitlochry…

Scotland The Great - Homecoming

Four skinny boys stare up at a mountain. The mountain stares back at them. The hairiest one throws his arms out and roars: ‘Does it not make you proud to be Scottish?’; the prettiest one looks up from his vodka bottle, and hurls back bile. It’s been…

Celtic Connections - Branford Marsalis

Celtic Connections has never been overly troubled by any lack of an actual Celtic connection in the artists who visit the festival, but Branford Marsalis must surely qualify as one of the furthest stretches so far from any perceived Celtic-ness.

Burns Night

The man of the moment is not, as you might mistakenly be thinking, Barack Obama (guh! We’re so over that inauguration shizzle!), but a 250 year old womanising ploughman from Ayrshire. Here’s our guide to the best ways to mark Burns Night. Why not…

Scotland The Great - Homecoming Highlights

Scotland is calling everyone back for a homecoming and, without any sort of Scottish version of the Bat signal in sight, the country is hosting events throughout the year to get everyone celebrating their roots to coincide with Robert Burns’ 250th…

Homecoming Scotland: Salmond Swims Home

Compared with the Scottish rebel leaders of old, Alex Salmond is a pussycat. William Wallace carried a sword the size of a man; Robert the Bruce was so tough that he wanted his heart cut out after his death, to be taken on a crusade, but Big 'Eck, as…

Homecoming Scotland: Making the Most of it

The Gathering 2009 The centrepiece of the year's celebrations, The Gathering is the largest clan meeting in history. Six thousand flights from America to Scotland have already been snapped up and demand is so high that more are being specially…

Bernhard Schlink - Homecoming

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

A scrap of pulp fiction marks the beginning of a life-long journey for Peter Debauer in this personal account of a fatherless boy in postwar Germany. The fiction, which describes a soldier’s return, has mysterious parallels with Debauer’s own life and…