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Learn about the festivals and celebrations which mark dates throughout the calendar.

Sunday 6th September 2009 saw the massive firework display which marked the end of the Edinburgh International Festival which had run since the start of August. To the sounds of Handel, thousands of pounds worth of pyrotechnics exploded and showered down from Edinburgh Castle ramparts. Speakers were set up at Inverleith Park and Calton Hill [...]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you celebrating in the run up to Tuesday 17th March 2009. We went along to join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade down the Edinburgh Royal Mile. The march was organised by St Patrick’s Parish Church. The Stockbridge Pipe Band led everyone down to the church for a [...]

You don’t have to be rich to experience culture. The Turner Exhibition is Edinburgh is 100% free. Thanks to Henry Vaughan, the Victorian collector, the delicate watercolours are shown publicly in Edinburgh and Dublin every January. The works are only shown for one month during the darkest part of the year by order of Vaughan’s [...]

Burn’s Night is closing in fast and this year is especially important as the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns birth. On 25th January, Scots around the world will celebrate the romance and nationalism of their heroic bard. Scotland’s national poet sparked a historic tradition of eating haggis and reciting verse which continues to this day [...]

Tonight is New Year’s Eve but because the world’s atomic clocks are more accurate than the Earth, we will get an extra second added onto 2008. That’s one more second to savour the year gone by before facing another annum. The countdown will actually go like this: 11:58, 11:59, 11:60, 00:00.  Time providers of mobile [...]

While the Western world was finishing off the turkey and stuffing, Israel thought it might be a good time to invade the Gaza Strip. After four days of aerial strikes, 383 Palestinians are dead and 800 are wounded. 62 of the dead have been confirmed as being civilian. There have been 4 Israeli deaths. It’s [...]

Hanukkah 2008 begins at sundown on 21st December. It is an ancient festival which commemorates the re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed by Antiochus – a Syrian King. The Jews who rebuilt the temple lit a ceremonial candle (the Menorah) but didn’t have much oil. However, it miraculously kept burning for [...]

The Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Dennis Canavan, on November 29, 2006. The Bill sought to designate St Andrew’s Day, or an alternative day around November 30, as a Bank Holiday. The Bill received Royal Assent on January 15, 2007 and became an Act. When will St [...]

We all remember the Blue Peter campaigns to check bonfires for hedgehogs before lighting them on 5th November, so just have a look at this cute little guy and then think before you burn. Don’t forget to send us your hedgehog tips – I’ve heard that they’re lactose intolerant. Seems very 21st century to me. [...]

Yom Kippur begins at sundown today. It is the Jewish day of repentance and atonement. Jews will have two festive meals today and then spend tomorrow in penitance and fasting. There are five traditional prohibitions during this time: Eating and drinking Wearing leather shoes Bathing/washing Anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions Sexual relations Most secular [...]