Arts and Culture
Festivals
Scotland hosts a large number of festivals, many of which attract visitors from around the world. They range from traditional celebrations to classical music and art, and include:
- Edinburgh International Festival
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe (the largest arts festival in the world)
- Edinburgh International Book Festival
- Edinburgh Film Festival (the oldest film festival in the world)
- Glasgow & Edinburgh's Hogmany Parties
- Glasgow International Jazz Festival
- Guitar Festival in the Borders
- Hebridean Celtic Festival
- International Harp Festival
- Perth Festival of the Arts
- Scottish International Storytelling Festival
- St Andrews Poetry Festival
- St Magnus Festival in Orkney
Visual Arts
Scotland has strong traditions in architecture and the visual arts with close links to European movements. Glasgow School of Art, based in a building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is one of the last remaining independent art colleges in Britain.
Living Scottish artists with an international reputation include Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Ian Hamilton Finlay, John Bellany, Jack Vettriano, Ken Currie and David Mach.
Museums and Galleries
Scotland's museums range from art and heritage collections of world stature to local museums of folk life and regimental museums. They include several specialist collections. Glasgow has the UK 's largest local authority museums service, with collections of around 1.2 million objects valued at £400 million. The country's museums include:
- Burns Cottage, Alloway (near Ayr)
- Dynamic Earth
- Glasgow Science Centre, which includes the highest revolving tower in the world
- Kelvingrove Museum
- National Portrait Gallery
- The Burrell Collection
- The Highland Folk Museum
- The Museum of Flight , which has acquired one of the decommissioned Concord planes
- The Royal Museum of Scotland, housed in a superb new building
- The Royal Scottish Museum
- Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Literature
The works of Scottish writers are read throughout the world. The most notable literary names from the past include Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, J M Barrie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Hogg and Hugh MacDiarmid.
Writers born or working in Scotland today include Edwin Morgan, James Kelman, Alasdair Gray, JK Rowling, Iain Banks, William Gibson, Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre.
Scotland on film
Scotland's rugged scenery and cobbled streets have always provided popular settings for the cinema industry. Its castles and glens have appeared in features from James Bond to Monty Python. Major films made in Scotland include Harry Potter, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Local Hero, Gregory's Girl, Shallow Grave, The Wicker Man, Mrs Brown, Chariots of Fire and Trainspotting.
Scotland's Actors
Scotland has produced many internationally acclaimed actors, including Sir Sean Connery, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Billy Boyd, Dougray Scott, Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and Robbie Coltrane.
Scotland's Theatres
Scotland's theatres are at their busiest during the Edinburgh Festival season, when over 1700 performances occur in a single month. However, theatre thrives throughout the country during the other eleven months as well.
Principal companies and venues include The Traverse Theatre, The Scottish Youth Theatre, The Tron Theatre, The Dundee Rep, The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, The Kings Theatres in both Edinburgh and Glasgow and The Arches Theatre.
Source: Scottish Government (sourced March 2005)