Homecoming Scotland announcement re 2014 events

[William Douglas]

I have just received this announcement from Homecoming Scotland

Scotland welcomes the world for the Year of Homecoming Scotland 2014. The year-long programme of events will be celebrating the very best of Scotland’s food and drink, our fantastic active and natural resources as well as our creativity, culture and ancestral heritage.  The year will run from December 31 to December 31 and will be celebrated from Shetland to Stranraer.

The first Homecoming year in 2009 was such an amazing success and as before, for 2014 everyone’s invited to come and help us celebrate and reconnect with all that makes Scotland truly great.

The Homecoming team are busy preparing a fantastic programme of events and festivals which they’ll be taking the wraps off in April 2013. This will build on the success of the recent Year of Food & Drink, Year of Active, Year of Creative Scotland and Year of Natural Scotland focus years, as well as Scotland’s rich ancestral resources and the Diaspora’s connection with home.

Two world-class events already confirmed for 2014 are the XXth Commonwealth Games which Glasgow will host in July and the 40th Ryder Cup to be staged at historic Gleneagles in September.

There will be key signature programmes taking place across the year:

• Hogmanay – Edinburgh and Scotland Wide
• Celebration of John Muir Day (21^st April) and opening of John Muir Coast to Coast Trail from Dunbar to Helensburgh (through the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park)
• May will see a month long programme across Scotland as we celebrate Whisky Month (Spirit of Speyside a lead festival)
• 28th, 29^th & 30^th June will see the 700^th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn and this will provide many opportunities for you all to engage in the activities surrounding this event.
• August will see the world famous Edinburgh Festivals
• September will see a strong focus on Food & Drink as well as the 40^thRyder Cup at Gleneagles
• October will see a strong Gaelic offering in the Highlands centred on the Royal National Mod.

Around these signature events, you can look forward to an exciting blend of festivals, activities, performances and celebrations that will showcase the very best that Scotland has to offer to locals and visitors from around the globe.

April 2013 will see the launch of the events programme for the year and you can keep up to date with progress at the Homecoming websitewww.homecomingscotland.com
The Battle of Bannockburn 2014
The 23^rd and 24^th June will mark the 700^th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn, there are many activities being planned to commemorate the event with the new visitor centre officially opening in 2014.

The Battle of Bannockburn project is an exciting partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government (£5 million) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (£4.1 million).  

It will create an electrifying new experience for visitors looking to learn more about this important historic event, from 2014 onwards.  A brand new visitor centre is being built (work started June 2012). Inside, the exhibition will use Hollywood-calibre 3D technology to bring medieval battle to life for visitors, as well as providing plenty of fascinating historical facts.

Outside, the important monuments will be restored to their original condition, and there will be sensitive external interpretation added to enhance the experience of visiting the landscape. Carefully planned landscaping will also add to the setting and restore the dignity of the site. 

Opening in 2014, Scotland’s second year of Homecoming, this is set to be a key attraction and focus for the year, adding to Stirling’s appeal as it prepares to ‘welcome the world’.”

 

The celebration of the 700th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Bannockburn will be a special and hugely enjoyable occasion at the site of the original battle; it will be a significant two/three day event on 28, 29 and 30 June 2014, and will attract a large and enthusiastic audience for all things Scottish in a packed programme of events across all days, offering something for all ages and interests. One key element will be the creation of a Clan village to provide the opportunity for the clans to come together and share in the experience of Bannockburn which is significant not just because of that period of Scottish history but because it occurred at the dawn of highland clan history.

Plans are also under way to stage a second Clan Convention in Scotland in tandem with the Bannockburn re-enactment. The Convention itself will take place in the Stirling area which will build on 2009 and the Stone Mountain seminar of 2012.  It will be a great opportunity for clan leaders from around the world to work together, under the leadership of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, to establish the general strategic direction of the clan network into the future. We want to do this as part of the overall team effort to develop the winning year’s concept and would wish to involve as many interested parties as possible in our deliberations.

There has been a realignment of events to really focus on Bannockburn itself (dawn of the clan system) with a strong emphasis on good quality regional events many of which will be clan based. As part of this realignment the Homecoming Scotland team are working closely with the Scottish Highland Games Association and the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs to promote the Highland Games in Scotland through an aligned marketing campaign. This will provide an opportunity to help build to bonds between the clans and Highland Games in Scotland, and enable those not able to attend the Bannockburn activity to plan a trip to their ancestral home at other points in the year.

For further details on the Battle of Bannockburn 2014 event then visitwww.battleofbannockburn.com website where details of the project and the event will be available. Further details on the Highland Games will be communicated through the Homecoming Scotland website as plans progress.