After a decade away, singer Carol Kidd is back

Legendary Scots singer Carol Kidd is back with her first release in over ten years. The Glasgow-born singer has recorded and self-released Both Sides Now, an album packed full of beautiful music that is close to her heart and depicts where she is in her life at the moment, after enduring a challenging few years.…

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Three new Scottish beers on their way to supermarket

Three new Scottish craft beers are being introduced by a leading supermarket in a partnership with independent producer Stewart Brewing. In a deal worth £400,000 Lidl UK continues to support the growing Scottish craft beer industry by listing a range that capitalises on the popular American inspired beers. Following the successful launch of Lidl’s first…

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The Granite City is the inspiration for new ice cream

An ice cream that has been made to look like Aberdeen’s granite buildings has been created by Scotland’s luxury ice cream maker for a crime writing festival in the North East.  While local talents have been drafting up their dark stories for the city’s popular Granite Noir Festival, Mackie’s of Scotland has written up a new…

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Up Helly Aa is such a hit with its annual visitors

Shetland’s annual Viking festival of fire is taking place this week. Up Helly Aa 2019 is being held on Tuesday, 29 January, and will be a huge draw for not just islanders, but visitors too. Rowan Slaney, who is based on London, came up to Up Helly Aa last year and loved her time there.…

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Tweet yourself a literary agent in 280 characters

After the astonishing success of the last three years, XpoNorth’s Writers’ Tweet Pitch is back. On Friday 11 January, from 9am-9pm, writers from across Scotland can tweet pitch their work to a panel of Scotland’s literary agents and publishers. Twitter channels will be open to pitches of unpublished fiction, nonfiction and writing and illustration for…

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North east gin festival returns next month

A gin festival is to be held in the north east of Scotland in February. After this success of this year’s GIN:NE event, it will be returning to Inverurie, in Aberdeenshire, on Saturday 2 February and Sunday 3 February 2019. It will take place in Inverurie Town Hall. A spokesman said: ‘There will be the…

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Piping Live! reels in £1.9 million for the economy

It’s been piping hot in Scotland this year – and not just in terms of the weather. Figures for Piping Live!, the Glasgow International Piping Festival, reveal the event generated a tremendous boost for the local economy – to the tune of over £1.9 million. An economic impact report found that Piping Live!, which ran…

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Distillery delight after Icons of Whisky awards

Benromach Distillery is celebrating success at the prestigious Icons of Whisky Scotland awards. It picked up the Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year Award and was highly commended in the Visitor Attraction and Distillery Manager categories. Announced in a ceremony held in Edinburgh’s Surgeon’s Hall, the awards, which are organised by Whisky Magazine, pay tribute…

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You can’t beat Drum for some festive fun

The National Trust for Scotland’s Drum Castle is gearing up for the festivities with its Christmas Festival this weekend. And it will feature a new take on its beloved Holly Fest. On Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 December, Drum Castle will be transformed for the festive season. Visitors can browse the Exclusively Highlands unique Christmas…

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Henge gig promises to be out of this world

Music that’s out of this world is coming to Scotland’s festival village. Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway is renowned for hosting bands from all over the world – but now its welcoming musicians from Venus and beyond. The mighty Henge, who describe themselves as ‘an extra-terrestrial music collective’ plan to bring their unique sound to…

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