History Live to run at Stirling Festival

Stirling is set to host History Live, the first National Heritage Festival to be held in Scotland.

Co-ordinated by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the festival takes place from Friday, September 29, until Sunday,October 1.

Venues across the city are being used including Stirling Castle, Wallace Monument, Cambuskeeneth Abbey, Cowane’s Hospital and the Tolbooth.

Festival highlights include a performance at the Macrobert centre of Coal, a dance theatre show which marks the 30th anniversary of the end of the end of Miners’Strike.

Opening night events also include a concert at the Church of the Holy Rude featuring Glasgow Philharmonia, Raploch Big Noise, Stirling performing arts school Stageworx and the Royal Burgh of Stirling Pipe Band.

Tours have been arranged at the Engine Shed and Cambuskenneth Abbey and there’s an opportunity to see inside the former theatre at Stirling Arcade, thought to be the oldest shopping arcade in Europe.

Visitors to Stirling Castle will have the chance to take part in some archaeological detective work in an event called CSI Stirling, and visit the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum to find out more about life on the home front duringWorldWarTwo.

Gillian Macdonald, head of sales and marketing at Historic Environment Scotland, principal organisers of the festival, said it was a contribution to the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology which is underway in 2017.

“We decided that Stirling would be the ideal destination for the inaugural History Live event,” explained Gillian who was for five years, from 2007 to 2012, executive manager at Stirling Castle.

“We have attractions there, it’s a great location in central Scotland and easy for people to get to, it is a centre of history and heritage and there is a lot of product and partners to work with.

“We thought we would take a lead role in co-ordinating the festival but it’s not just about us. We have created a platform that has enabled other partners to come together and work with us.

“We came up with the History Live concept and went out and spoke to other organisations and now we have 19 partners and 29 events and there is a good momentum about the programme.”

Gillian explained that while some of the events were already scheduled others had been arranged for History Live.

And she added:“We would like to make it an annual event but we would have to see the results of the first. It’s not intended to be a one-off.”

Tickets for History LIve are on sale at www.historylive.scot and there is more information from the HES website.