Hundreds of costumed performers are set to storm Fort George this weekend (12 and 13 August) and in their midst will be some famous faces from the Scottish traditional music scene.
On Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 August, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are bringing a brand new event to the Highland fortress, in celebration of Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. Amazing Ages! will explore 2,000 years of Scottish history and culture with an exciting programme of live music and activities for all.
Performers representing different periods in history will tell Scotland’s story through living history camps and a stellar line-up of Scottish folk musicians will be taking to the stage to perform, with a different headline act for each day.
Caledonian Ceildh Trail kick-off Saturday’s line-up, followed by renowned Gaelic singer and band The Margaret Stewart Trio and contemporary champions of Scots song Malinky follow suit. Saturday Afternoon’s line-up concludes with Edinburgh-based six piece Shooglenifty; renowned for fusing traditional melodies with a mixture of contemporary influences.
Multi-award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis is the closing act on Sunday. Deeply influenced by her early upbringing on the Outer Hebridean island of North Uist, she is perhaps best known for singing the theme songfor Disney Pixar’s Oscar winning film Brave.
Speaking ahead of the event, Lorna Ewan, Head of Visitor Experience, Content and Learning at HES, said: “We’re thrilled to be marking the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology with this brand new event.
“We’re particularly excited to welcome such an array of Scottish musical talent to Fort George, with acts that are sure to create a festival atmosphere at this unique site against the beautiful backdrop of the Moray Firth.
“Amazing Ages! is set to bring the strands of Scotland’s history and culture together in a lively celebration that is not to be missed.”
The event will also offer a host of other hands-on historical activities, with the chance to have a go at traditional skills, meet archaeologists and find out about the fascinating finds that help piece together the puzzles of the past. Visitors are also encouraged to look to the skies as a spectacular parachute drop will take place each day at 3.10pm.
There will be an opportunity to view The Orkney Venus. On show here for the weekend only, the Orkney Venus is the earliest known representation of the human form in Scotland. Carved in stone about 4,500 years ago, it was found in 2009 during an excavation on Westray, Orkney. Visitors will have the chance to marvel at this amazing artefact from Scotland’s past.
Amazing Ages! has been funded in part by EventScotland, a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate. Stuart Turner, Head of EventScotland, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the inaugural Amazing Ages! through our National Events Programme.
“In Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, this fantastic event, held within the iconic fortress of Fort George, will undoubtedly play its part in showcasing Scotland’s rich historic past and cultural heritage with an exciting programme of traditional music acts, fascinating living history camps, reenactments and family activities to entertain visitors of all ages.”
The History Bug will be in full effect as Amazing Ages! takes place at Fort George, near Inverness, on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 August from 11am-5pm. Tickets are priced £13 for adults, £11 for concessions and £8 for children. Family tickets are also available. Book in advance online and receive a 10% discount.
This event is free for Historic Scotland members.
Capital Document Solutions would like to invite you to their upcoming HP Tech Hub Roadshows.
Capital Document Solutions is hosting a series of HP Tech Hub Roadshows across Scotland.
We’re demonstrating the latest in HP technology in our offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and also Aberdeen at the end of August and start of September.
You’re invited to attend any of our HP Tech Hubs. We’ll be showing the latest innovation in printing and computing solutions, with the chance to experience the following:
Thought Leadership
Our experts will cover key themes of discussion in today’s technology world. These include innovative IT solutions and ways of doing business.
Latest HP Technology
We’ll showcase the latest HP products, with a focus on innovative business printing solutions. This includes a first look at the new HP A3 printing line up.
Networking
A great opportunity for you to network with HP and Capital. A chance to discuss IT solutions that could change the way you do business.
What can you see at the HP Tech Hub Roadshows?
• The new generation of HP PageWide and laser printers will be on display.
• The latest HP Sprout technology. Sprout is a fully integrated desktop 3D scanning solution with 3D object capture, editing and multiple streamlined 3D print options.
• Samples of HP’s up to date laptops, mobiles and tablet devices.
• The soul of a powerful PC inside a beautiful modular body. HP Elite Slice is like no desktop you’ve ever seen. Watch the video:
https://youtu.be/aoyRd8KjZnE
The HP Tech Hub Roadshows will consist of either morning (10am-1pm) or afternoon (2pm – 5pm) sessions. The dates are Edinburgh 29th August, Glasgow 31st August, Inverness 5th September and also Aberdeen 7th September. So to visit the booking sites please click on your desired location link.
HP are one of the world’s greenest companies and are continual winners of Excellence and Global Sustainability awards.
As an HP Gold Partner, Capital has achieved the highest level within HP’s select group of print specialists.
Images and video by permission of HP Inc UK Limited.
Report ranked five Scottish markets on key points for investors
Inverness has emerged as the surprise leader in Colliers International’s inaugural Scottish Hotel Index, as a combination of strong levels of demand; rising Average Daily Rates (ADR); a low active pipeline; relatively low development costs and high occupancy levels, allowed it to beat Edinburgh into second place.
Colliers’ Scottish Hotel Index involves the analysis of five locations across Scotland and ranks them according to nine key indicators, to determine the ‘hot spots’ for hotel development and acquisition across the country. It has found that Inverness is the most attractive market for investors, followed by Edinburgh and then Glasgow, Perth and Dundee, and Aberdeen.
Marc Finney, Head of Hotels & Resorts Consulting at Colliers International, said: “Our Scottish Hotels Market Index shows the changes taking place in the sector. The study in particular, highlights that Inverness is not necessarily the best hotel market north of the border, but it is currently providing the best opportunities in Scotland. Inverness has recorded high levels of demand of around 80% over the past four years, which has enabled ADR to rise by 22% between 2013 and 2016. It is cheap to acquire hotel sites there, providing investors with much better value for money than, say, Edinburgh.”
Alistair Letham, the Scottish director in the UK Hotels Agency team at Colliers International, added: “Crucially the index shows that hotel performance is on an upward trend in Inverness, and there is little new stock of guest rooms in development. Despite being expensive, Edinburgh is also on an upward trend and has one of the highest ADR in Scotland and the UK at £93 at the end of 2016. So the capital rightly deserves its position in the UK top ten.”
Highlights
Inverness scored highly and with an overall rating of 3.79, which would put it joint second in the UK, alongside York and behind Chester. Edinburgh is in 5th place in the UK Index.
Inverness led the way in the RevPAR trend, with growth of 8.5%, and also had the highest occupancy rate in the Scottish market with 83.2%.
The city also had some of the cheapest land, alongside Dundee and Perth, and Aberdeen, the smallest active pipeline at under 3% of current room supply, and relatively modest build costs. This allowed Inverness to top the table despite being rated as having only ‘moderate investor appeal’.
Due to data limitations, Dundee and Perth have been analysed as one city, and ranked fourth.
Edinburgh was second with the highest hotel KPIs in Scotland and a ‘very sought after’ investment location, helping it beat Glasgow into third. But its high land price, considerable active pipeline and lower RevPar trend kept it below Inverness for overall investment appeal.
Aberdeen was rated the lowest in Scotland with occupancy rate of 62% and a negative RevPar trend weighing against the Granite City. This is mainly due to the collapse of the oil prices and a large number of new hotel projects.
Mr Finney concluded: “Aberdeen was once the most thriving hotel market in Scotland and the UK but the downturn in oil prices and subsequent offshore activity has hit it hard. It is therefore suffering from a degree of oversupply and tough comparators from previous years. However, that is not to say that it does not have appeal to investors given the market’s potential to improve along with the fortunes of the city’s biggest industry.”
TOP SIX Scottish Hot Spots For Hotel Investment and Development:
1. Inverness
2. Edinburgh
3. Glasgow
4. Dundee/Perth
5. Aberdeen
Methodology
Colliers’ Scottish Hotel Index uses nine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to score each of the locations a figure from one to five (one being the lowest and five being the highest). The determining indices include land site prices; build costs; market appetite; valuation exit yields; room occupancy; average daily rate; room occupancy rates; four-year revenue per available room trend (RevPAR); active pipeline as a percentage of current supply and construction costs. The ratings are then consolidated into a single figure and ranked to show the markets that are ‘hot’ and those that are not, in terms of a desirable location for investors to acquire an existing hotel or develop a new one.
The ScotRail Alliance is urging customers on the Aberdeen to Inverness route to check their journey times before they travel, as train times will be altered over the bank holiday weekend.
Buses replace trains between Inverness and Keith on 27 – 29 May to allow for engineering works to take place. Customers are being encouraged to plan ahead and check their journey plans on the ScotRail app or at scotrail.co.uk.
A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: “We appreciate our customers’ patience during these essential works.”