Mary Queen of Scots Festival

Market Park, Kinross, September 2 & 3

The recent history of Kinross is dominated by its association with Scotland’s largest music jamboree.

T in the Park enjoyed an 18-year tenancy at Balado Airfield but the town has been starved of a notable summer festival since DF Concerts pulled the plug three years ago.

That void may never be filled but this weekend’s free-to-enter Mary Queen of Scots Festival represents an opportunity to delve considerably further back into Kinross-shire’s rich cultural heritage.

Marking the 450th anniversary of both her imprisonment in Loch Leven Castle and the subsequent end of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the bijou event promises to be a lively celebration of contemporary Scottish culture featuring music, talks, jousting contests and children’s activities.

Led by Gladiator and Outlander re-enactors the Clanranald Trust, the family-orientated extravaganza will recreate a bustling 16th Century royal encampment at Market Park, formerly the main fairground site in Kinross.

Hands-on activities will include workshops showcasing authentic period fare, a blacksmith armoury showing how knights’ weapons were forged, 16th Century morality plays, Tudor pottery classes and falconry.

Meanwhile, the live music on offer will cover an array of styles and genres, with up-and-coming Scottish talents taking centre stage. Edinburgh four-piece The Gorms and ceilidh toe-tappers Kilter are among the trad attractions on offer, while fans of rockabilly and blues could do a lot worse than checking out local favourite Craig Lithgow.

Interest in Dunfermline pair Craig Anderson and Paul Connelly, who collaborate as the folky Cognac Twins, is sure to be high.

Others performing at Market Park across the weekend include breaking singer-songwriters Calum Baird, Jason Brand, Aaron Wright and Ruth Gillies.

Kinross-based promoters Mundell Music are also getting involved, with two special shows being staged at the Green Hotel, just across the road from the festival site.

One of former Small Faces star Ronnie Lane’s old bandmates, Drew McCulloch, will be appearing at the venue on Sunday at 3pm with his band, Spirit of Slim Chance, before Scotland’s only Bruce Springsteen tribute act, The Rising, perform from 8pm until late.

Talks are also on offer tomorrow and Sunday, with one of Scotland’s top genealogists, Dr Bruce Durie, giving hour-long lectures from 10.20am, while Susan Morrison from Radio Scotland’s Time Travels will be joined by experts to discuss Mary’s legacy from 11.30am.

The festival opens from 10am-5.30pm on both days and children should be accompanied by an adult.

Jousting competitions are among the attractions on offer at Market Park in Kinross this weekend.