1 Spectacular Jousting
1 Spectacular Jousting
Linlithgow Palace, Saturday and Sunday
The thrills and pageantry of a medieval tournament recreated over an entire weekend at Linlithgow Palace Peel, featuring live jousting, foot skirmishes, and displays of horsemanship and swordplay. With the Palace transformed into a colourful, bustling encampment, there's also lots of atmospheric living history to soak up. Visitors will have the chance to meet performers, try on authentic period costumes and armour, discover period food and falconry, and enjoy entertainment from the Palace jester. Running both days from 12.30pm to 4.30pm, tickets are £7.20-£12.
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/jousting
2 Ice Station Antarctica
Dundee Science Centre, daily
Developed by the Natural History Museum and the British Antarctic Survey, this hands-on family exhibition uncovering the planet's most inhospitable wilderness opened on Monday. Through a series of interactive challenges and games, visitors can find out what scientists get up to on Antarctica, and discover more about its surprisingly diverse wildlife. Exhibits include a cold room replicating the continent's frigid temperatures, along with installations taking you under sea ice, onto a real snowmobile, and into a replica scientific base station. Open daily until September, entry to the Centre is £5.25-£7.25.
www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk
3 Glasgow Comic Con
CCA, Glasgow, Saturday and Sunday
One of the UK's biggest comics events, with strong emphasis on independent and underground companies from Scotland. Visitors will have the chance to meet creators, browse for toys, collectibles and comics from around 100 specialist stands, and compete for prizes by coming dressed as favourite characters. Despite advance PR trumpeting "all your fandom needs in one place", organisers have this year had to book two additional venues near CCA to deal with the expected overspill. Guests include industry legends Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Peter Milligan.
www.glasgowcomiccon.com
4 Kelburn Garden Party
Kelburn Castle, Ayrshire, Friday to Sunday
This boutique arts festival in the grounds of A-listed, psychedelic-mural festooned Kelburn Castle offers an alternative option for the weekend between Glastonbury and T in The Park. Combining something of the anything goes vibe of the former with the relative geographic proximity of the latter, the event marks its fifth year with an expanded three-day programme of underground Scottish bands, comedy, film, and storytelling, plus a range of outdoor performances and activities across a sprawling semi-woodland site. Weekend passes are £104 from www.kelburngardenparty.com
5 Kelso Bike Fest
Border Union Showground, Kelso, Friday to Sunday
Sort of like a music festival, but for motorcycle enthusiasts, this Borders-based gathering of bikes and their owners offers onsite camping and an extensive showcase of everything from restored classics to modern superbikes - plus a huge trade, parts and accessories fair. Entertainment-wise, there's also a rolling programme of stunt bike shows by day and performances from live bands by night. Day tickets are £10 on the gate, with weekend camping available for £33. Accompanied children under 16 are also free.
www.thebmfshow.co.uk/the-shows/bikefest-kelso
6 Scottish Game Fair
Scone Palace, Friday to Sunday
Maintaining the outdoors theme is this huge country sports and lifestyle showcase, now in its 26th year. Visitors can shop for bargains at hundreds of trade stands, try archery and go-karting, and be entertained by dog display teams, field sports contests, and a lumberjack skills team called The Welsh Axemen. There's also a cookery theatre, and a food hall packed with Scottish produce. Adding to a busy weekend, the Queen's Baton Relay also visits the site tomorrow. Tickets on the gate are £18 (children £5).
www.scottishfair.com
7 Tarbert Seafood Festival
Tarbert Harbour, Loch Fyne, Friday and Saturday
Local produce is also to the fore on the banks of Loch Fyne this weekend, with a huge harbourside fisherman's market, along with taster sessions and cookery demonstrations from the area's businesses and hotels. Entertainment on Saturday includes The World Oyster Shucking Contest, as well as the crowning of this year's Seafood Festival Queen, followed by a colourful Parade, Highland dancing demonstrations, and a performance from the Mid Argyll Pipe Band. Sunday is Beer on The Pier Day, with live music, children's activities, and a fun fair.
www.tarbertfestivals.co.uk/festival-seafood.php
8 Go Wild In Summer
National Museum of Rural Life, East Kilbride, from today
For parents already starting to feel like it's been longer than a week since the end of term, the National Museum of Rural Life's summer programme for kids could provide some solace. Running twice a day, each day of the holidays, the two hour-sessions include den-making, ranger walks, nature photography, art workshops and mini-beast hunts. Weekends also see drop-in sessions with exotic animal handlers, folk crafts experts, and storytellers. Entry is free with admission to the Museum (£7 adults, £3.50 kids).
www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_rural_life.aspx
9 Shetland Nature Festival
Shetland, from Saturday
With a midsummer sun that barely dips below the horizon, there's probably no better time of year to explore Shetland. If you happen to be up that way, seven days of events celebrating the islands' natural heritage begin on Saturday. A varied programme includes adventure days, guided walks, educational workshops, and outdoor activities such as snorkelling, parkour and sea cliff-climbing. Full details are at www.shetlandamenity.org/whats-on. Also kicking off this weekend on Shetland's most northerly island is Unst Fest (www.unstfest.org), a 10-day festival of community events, exhibitions, live music and children's activities.
10 Continental Circus Berlin
Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh, until Sunday
There's still time to catch the last few performances of a 10-day long stint in Leith for the Circus Berlin big top. A multinational cast includes skilled acrobats from Bulgaria, award-winning clowns from Spain, hire wire experts from Romania, and gravity-defying aerialist Rowan Cameron-Brown, who hails from London. There are two shows a day (three on Saturday), with tickets costing £7 up to £27 for the best ringside seats. Circus Berlin are then on tour around Scotland until August, stopping off in Aberdeen, Stirling, Dundee and St Andrews.
www.circusberlin.co.uk
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