Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival: 7 August to 8 August, 2009

The quirky Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is set to unravel in the Scottish Highlands for its sixth edition in August 2009 and still remains one of Britain's most northerly festivals.

This family-friendly yet eccentric weekend aims to reunite Homecoming Highlanders in spectacular surroundings, at the same time putting on an eclectic line up of music and performing arts, including Burns and a' that. Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is also widely renowned for maintaining the feel of the early festivals of the 60s and 70s and sticking closely to its Scottish heritage with traditional ceilidh music held on the Thursday.

Take a break from the norm & have a great weekend out!

Piping Live! Music of the Clans: 10 to 16 August, 2009

Do you love to listen to the music of the pipes?

Well come hear the best in piping music from around the world in Glasgow this August.

The piping festival Piping Live! Music of the Clans runs from the 10th to the 16th of August, and The World Pipe Band Championships is being held on 15 August.

The World Pipe Band Championship will host 8,000 pipes & drums, 200 bands, and 1 world champion! In 2009 Glasgow will witness titanic battles between an international line-up of pipe bands challenging for the world championship. With Highland Dancing, Drum Major Competitions and European Highland Games, The Worlds is a day of vibrant colours, passionate music and intense competition.

Discover your roots and perhaps even a love of piping both traditional and contemporary at the Music of the Clans - a special series of Homecoming events dedicated to Scottish heritage and piping.

August will be a piping spectacular!

TripAdvisor Includes Self-Catering

Keen TripAdvisor users may have noticed that a new 'vacation rentals' section has recently appeared, offering user reviews of holiday cottages and other self-catering in the UK (and beyond). This is much better than being excluded, as they have before, but there is still some way to go to get the system working properly.

Self-catering reviews are managed through a 'third party' listing system called FlipKey, and this is not good news for visitors wanting to find real, unbiased reviews of holiday accommodation in Scotland or elsewhere. Quite apart from FlipKey having made a complete mess of UK regional geography, and insisting on displaying prices in $$$, owners have to pay to be part of it, unlike any other TripAdvisor accommodation. And, owners have to invite guests by email to submit a review. Do you think they will invite those who might leave poor reviews? Surely this will lead to all reviews being from satisfied customers. How useful is that to you, the potential visitor?

If you would like to comment to TripAdvisor about this, they have a Feedback Forum where you can leave such comments.

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival 2009: 31th July - 9 August 2009

Are you a Blues & Jazz fanatic? Do you love to listen to the smooth sound of jazz? Does it make you want to dance all night, or would you prefer to listen to the raw sounds of electric blues? No matter what type of jazz you're into, the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival 2009 will be a fantastic celebration of all things jazz!

The Jazz & Blues Festival is the longest-running jazz festival in the UK features all styles of jazz from international artistes in all sorts of venues large and small across the capital. Outdoor concerts also take the music out into the streets of the city with additional jam sessions and free outdoor events, which are attended by over 50,000 people, including jazz fanatics and newcomers to the genre.

Why not take a last minute holiday, and experience The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. Have a look at the Regional pages on the EmbraceScotland website, and you will see how easy it is to find a self catering property within your budget that will surely make your toes tap.

July Homepage Highlights: Historic Locations

EmbraceScotland's July Homepage Highlights: Historic Locations

Explore Scotland’s rich heritage – and live in it!

If you’re coming to Scotland to enjoy, find out more about, or simply feel the weight of our history, make sure you get into the real Scotland! There is nothing quite like living in a historic location, where you can experience what it might have been like to be part of an earlier time. You may choose to stay in a luxury modern apartment, or an ancient stone-built cottage, but either way only self-catering ‘home-from-home’ accommodation can really leave you feeling part of the community.

With EmbraceScotland you book direct with the owner, giving you access not only to the best prices, but also a wealth of knowledge and advice about how to make the most of the area, including its secret history!

July Homepage Highlights: Championship Golf

EmbraceScotland's July Homepage Highlights: Championship Golf

The world’s best golf, Scotland’s best cottages!

Thousands of people come to Scotland every year to play golf, to watch golf being played at championship or amateur level, or just to visit golf’s historic locations. Whether you want elite world-class tournament extravaganzas or a local links built from passion and a love of the sport, you’ll find it in Scotland. What better way to make the most of them than staying in quality self-catering holiday accommodation? Especially in the ‘Year of Homecoming’!

With EmbraceScotland you book direct with the owner, giving you access not only to the best prices, but also a wealth of knowledge and advice about how to make the most of the area, and indeed how best to play that tricky 7th hole!

The Open Championship: 16 July to 19 July, 2009

Come experience this year’s Homecoming Scotland’s Open Championship as the worlds' greatest golfers gather to do battle for the famous Claret Jug on what is considered one of the finest courses on The Open rota.

The 138th staging of The Open Championship, golf's oldest major, will be played in scenic Turnberry at ther Ailsa Course, Ayrshire. The Ailsa is regularly acknowledged as one of Britain's top three courses as well as consistently being ranked in the world's top 20 courses. With spectacular views sweeping across the Irish Sea to the Ailsa Craig, the Isle of Arran and the Mull of Kintyre with the picturesque lighthouse on the horizon, the Ailsa will provide a magnificent and memorable setting for this championship and reinforces Turnberry's reputation as one of the greatest Open Championship venues.

Come experience golf at its best and the centre of the golfing universe in July 2009.

North East Clan Fortnight: 18 July to 3 August, 2009

The North East Clan Fortnight starts off with the welcoming clan ball held in the 13th century Drum Castle, an ancestral clan seat. From here follow a journey of historical and ancestral insight into the region's distinct heritage at "Your North East"; a conference chaired by the University of Aberdeen. Continue this march with one of the world's oldest Highland Games in Aboyne.

The famous Turriff Show provides a fine finale to North East Clan Fortnight as one of Scotland's most spectacular agricultural fairs with special attractions for 2009 including Ally Bain and Phil Cunningham.

Come meet your chief at your clan hospitality tent and join fellow clansfolk for the March of the Clans!

The Gathering 2009 in Edinburgh: 25 & 26 July, 2009

The Gathering 2009, 25th & 26th July, Edinburgh - only 22 days to go!

The Gathering 2009 is an international clan gathering and the largest highland games ever held in Scotland. It will be one of the highlight events of Homecoming Scotland, a year-long celebration of our nation's rich historic past and exciting future.

Set in the spectacular grounds of Holyrood Park, The Gathering will run over the weekend of 25th and 26th July 2009. The highlight will be the highland games which will showcase competitors from all the disciplines that constitute a traditional highland games such as piping, dancing, and heavy athletics.

A special clan ceremony will take the form of a clan parade on the Royal Mile culminating in a unique clan pageant on the magnificent Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle.

So as you wait for the Gathering 2009 to begin, be sure to check out the Edinburgh Regional pages on the EmbraceScotland website for that perfect self catering accommodation We're sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Come and have a truly Scottish celebration!

The Hidden Jewel: 17 July to 23 July, 2009

Are you looking for an evening with a unique performance? Then come & walk with the drama as it unfolds in the gathering evening against the stunning medieval backdrop of Dunollie Castle in Oban. The Walking Theatre Company will reveal stories of an ancient Highland clan at the atmospheric seat of the Clan MacDougall.

The Hidden Jewel is better known as The Brooch of Lorne and is the main focus of this unusual outdoor walking theatre event. The Brooch was believed to have been taken from the cloak of Robert the Bruce by loyal MacDougall clansmen at the Battle of Dalrigh, near Tyndrum, in 1306.
This iconic jewel of the MacDougall Clan, fashioned from pure Scottish silver, crystal, and Scottish freshwater pearls, is of national significance with the original being securely kept at all times in a bank vault.

The Hidden Jewel drama follows the fortunes of the Brooch through the ages from its seizure in 1306 and on through dangerous times of sieges and loss through the centuries. The narrative reflects its absence in Campbell hands while the Chief’s family fought to retain their lands and castles, and into gentler times when Queen Victoria admired and rather coveted the Brooch.

The Hidden Jewel will be performed over 7 nights at Dunollie, Oban, from 17 and 23 July 2009, as part of the Year of Homecoming programme.

So whether you have a planned evening out or a well deserved holiday, make sure you stay in a quality-assured self catering cottage with the help of the EmbraceScotland website.