Keep Discovering: What to see and do

The Borders Banquet is a 10 day celebration of the best restaurants, the best chefs and the best locally produced ingredients available in the lovely Scottish Borders. This is an ideal opportunity to combine experience of mouth-watering cuisine with a night or two in one of the area’s many welcoming hotels and guest houses and a chance to explore the region’s stunning scenery and visitor attractions. A 10 day festival of fantastic food and dining experiences, the Borders Banquet offers a wide range of culinary events and experiences to excite your taste buds. Participating establishments include restaurants, cafés and tearooms as well as specialist producers.

The Scottish Borders boasts some of the best fish, game, beef and lamb in Scotland. Not to mention the succulent fruit and freshest vegetables. The establishments taking part will be making the most of seasonal ingredients. There will be something to tempt every taste, from mouth-watering gourmet dining with wine tasting in award winning restaurants to scrumptious afternoon tea in the picturesque surroundings of the many delightful hotels, cafés and tearooms.

To view specially prepared menus and events showcasing the finest local produce and eateries which will be more popular than ever,  click through to the Borders Banquet website www.bordersbanquet.co.uk

Book your table today to make sure you don’t miss out and enjoy the very best of the Borders at the Borders Banquet from 7-16 November 2008.  Remember to bring your camera, as autumn is a beautiful time of year in the Borders.

The Neolithic sites on Orkney are world famous, and for good reason. Skara Brae is Europe’s most complete Neolithic village, and consists of ten clustered houses. It was inhabited from roughly 3,100 – 2,500 BC. Within the stone walls of the dwellings are stone beds, dressers, seats, boxes for provisions and a hearth for burning dried heather, bracken or seaweed. Discover how this large settlement remained hidden for over 4,000 years before a wild storm exposed the ruins. Or visit the chambered tomb at Maes Howe, a fantastic prehistoric architectural achievement that gives the impression of a Neolithic cathedral. There are also the mysterious henge stones at Brodgar and Stenness. Together, all these places are part of the UNESCO World Heritage site and are cared for by Historic Scotland, whose guides really bring the past to life. There’s an Orkney Explorer Pass which gives entry to all these attractions.

Keep discovering more at visitorkney.com 

Make a date this autumn/winter in Scotland’s capital city to see the only Scottish performance of Mary Poppins.  Following a highly successful three and a half year run and over 1000 performances at the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s award-winning musical Mary Poppins has embarked upon a major international tour in 2008.

Opening at the Edinburgh Playhouse on the 1 October and playing until 6 December 2008, the show has been such a huge hit in the West End and on Broadway and it will be a "must see" for people wishing to attend one of the theatrical events of 2008.
 
Mary Poppins includes many of the original songs from the film with music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman. Brilliantly adapted from the beloved stories of P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film, this unforgettable production includes the best-loved songs from the film, including ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’, ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ and ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’.

The new stage production has been created, in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, by Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes who has written the book, and the Olivier award-winning British team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe who have written the new songs and additional music and lyrics.
 
The Broadway production opened last Autumn to tremendous acclaim and quickly became one of the biggest hits of the 06/07 season. It recently won the Tony® Award for Best Set Design (Bob Crowley) and continues to consistently be one of the top four weekly grossing shows on Broadway.

Make a weekend of it, take in the show, visit the many attractions Edinburgh has to offer and make a start to your Christmas shopping.

Scotland is one of the best destinations in Europe to watch wildlife. With the variety of species and the rich diversity of habitats that our country offers, it provides an excellent opportunity for you to really feel at one with nature. See osprey, eagles, red deer, puffins, seals, bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic salmon, pine marten, ptarmigan and red squirrels, to name but a few. Be amazed by the red kites acrobatic display at Argaty Red Kites, near Stirling. Other good places to see them are North Kessock Tourist Information Centre, north of Inverness, or the Red Kite Trail in Dumfries & Galloway. Or visit the beautiful Isle of Mull where you can spot a whole host of different wildlife species, including otters, sea eagles, minke whales and seals living alongside the community. Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides also provide excellent habits for many species as their more remote locations provide safe sanctuaries for them to raise their young. Throughout Scotland local knowledgeable wildlife guides can help you to get even more out of your trip. Look out for operators who belong to recognised organisations, such as Wild Scotland, whose members abide by a common charter and offer quality guided wildlife tours.

Keep discovering more by going to visitscotland.com/wildlife 

Enjoy the very best of Shetland’s produce at our first ever Shetland Food Festival taking place from 3 to 12 October 2008.

It’s time to celebrate the Shetland islands wonderful food: exceptional lamb, fine beef, superbly fresh fish and shellfish and some more unusual specialities such as seawater oatcakes, Shetland Black potatoes and more-ish fudge.

Join special guest chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli and George McIvor at cooking demonstrations using our finest produce and then purchase the ingredients from the Producers Market where there will be a mouth-watering display of fabulous food.

Learn the fascinating story of Shetland food at the various talks and workshops on offer during the festival and relax while watching some of the foodie films we’ve chosen to end the festival.

Join in the celebrations of our traditional music at Shetland’s 21st Accordion and Fiddle Festival from 9 to 13 October.

The annual festival mainly concentrates on music provided by Shetland's two most popular instruments - the accordion and the fiddle. Musicians from all over the world travel to Shetland to perform at the event, along with many local talents.

Why not join in one of the sessions which allows for much musical interchange and musician development.
With Shetland’s widespread community involvement, events are taking place across the islands.  Culminating in one of the biggest traditional dances to take place anywhere in the UK and with a dozen different dance bands taking it in turn to perform to 1,500 enthusiasts, the result is a highly enjoyable "traditional rave".

The festival is a must for anyone who enjoys the sound of traditional music and has the stamina to absorb it for four hectic days.