The Highland Gathering festival

The Gathering Festival today announces a vastly increased programme of events under the banner ‘THE HIGHLAND GATHERING’, taking over the city of Inverness inthe days leading up to and following the main Northern Meeting Park event on Saturday 30th May.

The Highland Gathering will run from Thursday 28th to Sunday 31st May with events and concerts taking place in Inverness Cathedral, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness Town House, Ironworks Venue, Inverness Castle and throughout the city centre.

Highlights of the programme include, The North Coast Ceilidh Coach at Eden Court’s One Touch Theatre – a brand new theatre show in partnership with The Gathering, Eden Court and Bruce Macgregor (Blazin Fiddles/BBC Radio Scotland); two shows in Inverness Cathedral, an intimate unplugged show from Tide Lines and a mass Gaelic Choirs Concert featuring 4 Highland choirs; an immersive cinema screening of Whisky Galore with live music and drams; a ‘Flavour of the Highlands’event  at Inverness Town House featuring craft Highland drink producers and live music; and a late night Official After-party at the city’s Ironworks Music Venue.

Inverness Castle will be home to a World Record attempt for the largest traditional Busking Session on the Friday evening while music and culture will fill the streets with The Gathering Official Busking Stages in the lead up to the main event. The Gathering will also partner will a selection of bars across the city as part of the officialfringe with the full programme being announced shortly.

Tickets for all shows go on sale on Monday 2nd March at 5pm. Ticket holders for the main event at Northern Meeting Park on 31st May will be sent an exclusive link to purchase early bird tickets for The Highland Gathering events from 10am on Monday 2nd March.

‘We are delighted to be announcing the expansion of The Gathering and the take-over of venues across the city in the days either side of the Northern Meeting Park Festival. With the support of EventScotland we have been able to programme a series of concerts, develop a brand new show alongside Bruce Macgregor and expand The Gathering into a city-wide event.’ Dougie Brown - The Gathering

This year’s event is supported by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate. Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our support of The Gathering, through our National Events Programme, toexpand their festival offering.“Scotland is the perfect stage for events and the festival’s extensive fringe programme, The Highland Gathering, will showcase Scotland and the region’s rich culture and traditional music heritage to both locals and visitors alike.”