About Homecoming
Scotland
Commencing with the celebrations of Burns’ 250th
Anniversary in January, more than 300
Homecoming Scotland events will take place across Scotland
during 2009 to celebrate
some of the greatest contributions Scotland has made to
the world: Golf, Whisky Great
Minds and Innovations, Burns himself, and our country’s
rich culture and heritage.
Robert Burns was born in
Alloway, Ayrshire in 1759 and by the time of his death in Dumfries
37 years later had amassed a body of work that made him
immortal. And as Scots
emigrated to the New World, the words and sentiments of
Scotland’s very own ploughman
poet achieved inspirational status the world over.
The Homecoming Scotland festivities begin on Burns Weekend
in January with a series of
Burns-inspired events, from Celtic Connections in Glasgow,
the world’s biggest Scottish
music festival, to Burns Light, a dazzling lantern
procession through the historic heart of
Dumfries on his birthday. Burns Night, the 25th January,
is also marked with a spectacular
outdoor celebration in Alloway’s Burns Heritage Park and a
star-studded Burns Supper
which will be the centrepiece of the world’s biggest Burns
Supper celebration.
In May, some of the top names in Scottish music and comedy
will participate in the Burns
an’ a’ That! Festival in Ayrshire. There will be
touring Burns exhibitions visiting Edinburgh,
Aberdeen, Dumfries, Glasgow and Kilmarnock, and his songs
and verse will this year
provide the underlying theme for the Edinburgh
MilitaryTattoo in August.
Burns’ huge impact on the
literary world is celebrated throughout 2009. Aye Write!, the Bank
of Scotland Book Festival in Glasgow, and the St Anza
Scotland’s Poetry Festival in St
Andrews, and Aye Write! The Bank of Scotland Book Festival
in Glasgow are highlights of
the month of March. Word 2009, the University of
Aberdeen Writer’s Festival takes place in
May. There are also book festivals in Nairn, Dundee and
Melrose in June, and the hugely
popular Stenaline Wigtown Book Festival is once again
being held in September.
In recognition of Burns’ astonishing body of work and of
the literary achievements of other
legendary Scottish writers such as Sir Walter Scott,
Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis Grassic
Gibbon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Compton Mackenzie
to name but a few, Edinburgh
was in 2006 designated the first UNESCO City of
Literature. And in August 2009,
Edinburgh’s two week International Book Festival will pay
homage to the works and
inspiration of Burns.
In the latter half of the 18th century, Scotland
experienced a process of intellectual re-birth
centred on Edinburgh, and this period became known as the
Scottish Enlightenment.
Scientists, economists, philosophers, writers and painters
congregated in the taverns of
Scotland’s capital.
In the years that followed, a breathtaking spate of
creativity took place with Scots inventing
the bicycle, steam engine, paraffin, chloroform, the
telephone, and helping to develop
television and radar. These discoveries, along with other
great technological advances, are
explored at the 21st Edinburgh International Science
Festival in April.
Not without reason is Scotland
known as the Home of Golf. Having pioneered the game
from as early as the 15 century, and with more than 550
courses to choose from,
enthusiasts are spoiled for choice. From the iconic Old
Course at St Andrews and the
coastal links of Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, Ayr, Argyll
and East Lothian, to the inland
challenges of Gleneagles and Loch Lomond, Scotland’s golf
courses are genuinely exciting
to play.
The very first Open Championship, the only major golfing
championship held outside the
USA, took place at Prestwick in 1860, when eight players
challenged for the title over the
12-hole course and it was won by Willie Park, a Scotsman.
Since then, the tournament has
returned regularly to Scotland, being played at Carnoustie,
St Andrews, The Royal Troon
Golf Club, Muirfield and Turnberry.
And it is therefore all the more fitting that the 138th
Open should return in 2009 to Turnberry
in Burns’ homeland of Ayrshire, and the 1977 setting for
the Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus
classic Duel in the Sun. What’s more, 2009 sees the launch
of Scotland’s biggest ever golf
promotion ‘Drive it Home’, which offers a free four-ball
at selected golf courses across
Scotland for overseas golfers and their buddies.
Whisky, known in the Gaelic
language as uisge beatha, the “Water of Life”, is among the
most beloved of distilled spirits in the world. With 95
working distilleries, each producing a
uniquely different flavour, whisky is the stuff of
Scottish folk lore and legend. The month of
May has therefore been designated Whisky Month with the
Spirit of Speyside Festival, and a
new event, Taste the Dram(a), taking place at the
spectacular Inveraray Castle. In
September, the neighbouring island of Barra is hosting the
first ever Whisky Galore Festival
to commemorate the salvaging of cargo from the SS
Politician which sank offshore in 1941.
In early November, a series of lavish whisky gala dinners
across Scotland will start with
Whisky Live, a two-day tasting and sampling event in
Glasgow.
The worldwide migration of
Scottish families and clans throughout the centuries has created
a remarkable network of international friendship. The
Scots are an enterprising race, but
never more so than when away from their native land.
Wherever they have found
themselves, be it in the USA, Canada, Australasia,
mainland Europe or Africa, they have left
their mark. From such a small nation, the pioneering
influence of its sons and daughters has
been astonishing.
Today, there are more than 500 active Scottish Clan and
Family Associations registered
around the world. Each of them plays an important role in
the preservation and celebration
of Scottish traditions. Furthermore, the goodwill
generated through shared origins has
created an immense asset in terms of communication and
understanding in our ever more
complex global community. Recognising this, The Gathering
2009, held at Edinburgh’s
Holyrood Park in July, featured Scotland’s largest
ever Highland Games, the World Heavy
Athletic Championships, a majestic Clan March up the Royal
Mile, and a spectacular Clan
Pageant enacted on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Read
more in our Community
Network.
As the focal point of a fortnight-long festival of
Highland Culture in October, the Buaidh
Chruinneil na h-Alba ‘Scotland’s Global Impact’ conference
at Eden Court Theatre in
Inverness will explore the way in which Scots have shaped
countries and communities
around the world. Tracing your Scottish ancestry has never
been simpler. Since its launch in
2002, www.ancestralscotland.com, VisitScotland’s official
website for people around the
world with Scots ancestry, has proved immensely popular.
The site provides a wealth of
useful information on how to research your Scottish
ancestry along with practical tips and
inspiration to help you plan a trip to your ancestral
homelands. You’ll also find clan touring
itineraries and details on VisitScotland’s Ancestral
Tourism Welcome Scheme.
July sees the launch of the University of Strathclyde’s
first International Genealogy Festival,
and the third Angus and Dundee Roots Festival will take
place in September. Throughout
the year ScotlandsPeople Centre, Scotland’s new national
family history centre, which
provides access to millions of historical documents dating
back to the 16th century and is
housed in Edinburgh’s magnificent General Register House
and New Register House, will
be hosting a programme of exhibitions demonstrating the
results of genealogical research
into the family history of six famous Scots.
Whenever you visit, if you’re
of Scots blood opportunities abound to walk in the footsteps of
your ancestors; from a visit to your clan homelands to a
step into the past in our historic
cities, castles and monuments.
Around St Andrews Day, Homecoming Scotland 2009 is working
with some of Scotland’s
major promoters to present a thrilling celebration of
Scottish music across Scotland. From
traditional folk heroes to the most cutting edge of
contemporary Scottish bands, this
promises to be a sensational finale to the year.
There are those who come to Scotland simply to enjoy the
open skies and magnificent
tranquillity of the rural and coastal landscapes. Some
come to explore historic houses,
castles and gardens; others for a round of golf, or as
spectators or participants in the annual
Border Common Ridings, or at the 60 or more annual
Highland Games and Gatherings. The
events listed in this programme are just the beginning of
the Homecoming story. Register at
www.homecomingscotland.com to keep up to date with news.
Whatever place Scotland holds in your heart, Homecoming
Scotland 2009 opens the doors
to a multitude of unmissable experiences. Ceud Mille
Fàilte (a hundred thousand
welcomes).
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