St Andrew’s Day 2009 – Free Weekend

Historic Scotland is celebrating the climax of the Year of Homecoming by opening over 40 great attractions for free the weekend before St Andrew’s Day. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy a family day out on either Saturday 28 or Sunday 29 November. Edinburgh Castle will also be open for free on St Andrew’s Day itself.

For a list of participating castles log onto www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

The GDPU Spring weekend break for 2010 has been arranged for Aviemore at Badaguish Outdoor Centre lodges.

When:
Friday 9 April to Monday 12 April 2010
Places available:
20 or 30 ( 2 / 3 lodges)
Cost:
£70 pp for GDPU club members
£80 pp non members.

GDPU Aviemore 2010 Flyer

A placeholder event for the Strathaven Ballon Festival. A packed programme of events will be published as and when they become available.

On the Saturday night of the festival, from 9pm to 9.30pm, spectators are treated to a spectacular extravaganza in the form of the Night Glow.

More Information here : Strathaven Balloon Festival Web Site

Dates have been updated. The event will take place on Friday 28th August to Sumday 30th August 2009.

 Planning is well under way for the 2009 Colin McRae Forest stages rally. The rally will be held this year on Saturday 3rd of October. The event will once again start and finish in the city of Perth, with scruitineering and Rally HQ in Perth Race course.

The rally will have approx 45 stage miles using the famous Errochty, Drummondhill and Craigvinean stages with hopefully a couple of new stages this year. As normal for this event all 2 wheel drive cars will lead the way.

More news about the 2009 event will be posted here as it becomes available.

Web Site Link

 Scottish Natural Heritage
19th Scottish Natural Photography Fair 2009
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th Septenber 2009
Battleby Centre
Redgorton
Perth

10.00 am – 5.00 pm (Doors open at 9.00 am)

Speakers, Trade Stands, Lunchtime Activities, Exhibition, Competition, Free Prize Draw.

Booking Form Here

More Info Here : http://www.snh.org.uk/snpf

GDPU Weekend to Uig on the Isle of Skye.

Some information here : syhaflyer2009

Members note – I am now taking bookings and deposits for this event. Please note if you request a place and can’t attend you will be required to pay the deposit (£10.00). This is non refundable.

Can the members wishing to go please add a comment to this event post stating you wish to go.

Round 1 – Quad Racing Scotland.

Round 1 – 29th March – Venue – Cardenden Fife.
Round 2 – 26th April
Round 3 – 23rd May
Round 4 – 24th May
Round 5 – 14th June
Round 6 – 5th July
Round 7 – 16th August
Round 8 – 6th September

More information when available.

QRS Web Site Here

Edinburgh’s Beltane Fire Festival traditionally takes place each year on 30 April atop the city’s Calton Hill – once of Edinburgh’s best known viewpoints.

Join the audience of over 15,000 people who gather to share and marvel at this spectacular procession – inspired by the ancient Gaelic Festival of Beltane, with a heady mix of drums, fire, theatre & pagan ritual. Edinburgh’s Beltane festival traditionally takes place on the 30th of April every year on Calton Hill.

The name itself is thought to have derived from a Gaelic-Celtic word meaning ‘bright/sacred fire’. It was held to mark and celebrate the blossoming of spring, and coincided with the ancient pastoral event of moving livestock to their summer grazing.

For more information on the Beltane Fire Festival visit official website of the Beltane Fire Society.

Scotland will stage the final round of the prestigious Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) next year, forming a centrepiece event within the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was introduced in 2006 as a new rally series, carrying the endorsement of the FIA and is closely based on production cars, with 2 litre, normally aspirated engines. This format is designed to attract more manufacturers to the sport and is now supported by Fiat, Honda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Volkswagen.

The international-status event will be decided by three days of competitive driving over timed Special Stages on closed Forestry Commission Scotland gravel roads in Stirling and Perth and Kinross and will include a ceremonial start, service stop and high profile village featuring additional activity for the many thousands of spectators expected.

Scotland’s stage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge will take place from 19 to 21 November 2009.

More Info Here

The award-winning Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, a major fixture in Scotland’s sporting calendar, will take place on the 6th and 7th June of this year.

Global stars on the mountain biking circuit will descend on Fort William for the eighth annual extreme free sports event – internationally recognised as the world’s best showcase of mountain bike competition and high-speed action.

The Nevis Range Ski Area, 9km from Fort William, will once again provide the backdrop to the event’s Downhill and 4 Cross contests, with reigning British World Champions Gee Atherton (Elite Men), Rachel Atherton (Elite Women) and Josh Bryceland (Junior Men) amongst those set to thrill the crowds.

Tickets for the event will be available from the 23rd March.

Find out more at fortwilliamworldcup.