What's New

• 26 January 2011

  Scotland will be the Perfect Stage for Tour of Britain Grand Depart

  

  Scotland is gearing up to host the Grand Depart of The Tour of Britain this September with preparations for Sunday 11th September already well underway.

  The eighth edition of Britain’s national Tour, and the final one to take place before the 2012 Olympic Games, will see the race return to Scotland, with the first stage taking place between the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

  “We are very happy to be returning to Scotland in 2011 and look forward to a warm welcome once again this September”, said Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of SweetSpot Group, organisers and promoters of The Tour of Britain.

  Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Office for EventScotland agreed saying, “Scotland is ready to welcome The Tour of Britain back over the border in September. There is a real buzz in the country at present around cycling after Scotland’s success in Delhi and ahead of London 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. It is great to have such an exciting and successful event on our doorstep for the wider community to support and get involved with.”

  Full details of the route the stage will take will be unveiled in the Spring, but the Scottish Borders has been confirmed as hosting the start of the opening stage.  This will be the second occasion that the area has welcomed The Tour of Britain, following Peebles holding the start of Stage Three of the 2009 Tour.

  After beginning in Scotland The Tour of Britain will visit England and Wales over the following seven days, finishing in London on Sunday 18th September.  Full details of each of the stages will be announced at the National launch in the Spring.

  Further details of The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride Scotland will be announced shortly.  In the meantime riders can register their interest in taking part by visiting www.tourride.co.uk

  Photo credit: The Tour of Britain

  Category: International Events
• 18 January 2011

  Scotland's Actors Launch Bupa Great Edinburgh Run

  

  Some of Scotland’s leading actors including Taggart’s John Michie, Cal MacAninch of the BBC’s Holby Blue and Shauna MacDonald, leading lady in British horror film The Descent and the BBC’s spy drama Spooks, were in Edinburgh today to launch the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run.

  The actors are part of the blood cancer charity, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research’s famous running team “The Banana Army” so called because of their distinctive bright yellow t shirts. They plan to take part in the popular city centre 10k later this year on Sunday 2 October.

  Building on the from the success of the Bupa Great Winter Run and Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country earlier this month, EventScotland, the national events agency, are supporting the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run which will be a marquee event on the calendar in the year of Active Scotland.

  The event attracts runners of all abilities from across the U.K and has grown significantly in terms of the number of participants in recent years. It is televised live on Channel 5 and in 2010 was also the subject of a one hour highlights programme on BBC Scotland.

  Following the success of the new route which captured many of Edinburgh’s most famous historic attractions and started and finished in Holyrood Park last year, the course will remain similar in 2011. 

  Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is the official charity for the Bupa Junior & Mini Great Run series and the day also features the Bupa Junior and Mini Great Edinburgh Run, suitable for youngsters of all abilities aged 3 – 14 years covering 2.5k and 1.5k respectively.

  Entries for both events are open at www.greatrun.org 

  Category: International Events
• 12 January 2011

  The Big Tent Festival announces two year plan

  

  Scotland’s leading green festival, The Big Tent, today announced its new two year development plan which will mean that Big Tent takes a sabbatical in 2011, returning anew for 2012.

  The decision comes on the back of a very successful event last summer which attracted more than 11,000 people – the highest number since the festival was launched in 2005.

  Central to the new strategy is to focus on the next Big Tent, which will be held in July 2012, allowing organisers the time to make improvements to the site in order to further enhance Scotland’s greenest festival.

  This work will include installing compost toilets and solar showers as well as looking at a range of other ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival. 

  David Corner, Chair of Falkland Stewardship Trust said it has become essential to take time during 2011 to focus on developing the site and the overall future direction of The Big Tent.

  “We have almost become victims of our own success - in 5 years we have grown Big Tent to the point where our limited resources are in danger of not being able to deliver the high quality family festival for which we are famed. We will use 2011 to take stock, improve the site infrastructure and to plan a more congruent Big Tent festival for 2012”.

  Started in 2005 as a response to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles ,The Big Tent has grown to become Fife’s largest festival and as the flagship event for the Falkland Centre for Stewardship, has been a major force in spreading the environmental message of the Centre.

  Category: National Events