2019 Events in Inverness & Highlands
Highland Games - Festivals - Music

Pipe band at Piping Inverness, Scotland
Photo © The Internet Guide to Scotland

Scroll down for 2019 event listings by date

To entertain visitors, the Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band performs in Inverness High Street every Tuesday from 8pm until 8.30pm (usually from end June until early September) with some Highland dancers from one of the local dancing schools. You are likely to see a piper or other musicians busking in the streets of Inverness and sometimes other entertainment around the Eastgate shopping centre.

Inverness Townhouse Ceilidh
New for 2019 - this will be held every Tuesday (with one or two exceptions) from 18 June to 17 September from 7pm to 8.30pm. Featuring local musicians, singers, pipers and dancers. Tickets £19.50 for adults and £14.50 for children. Booking recommended - Townhouseceilidh.com

Taste of the Highlands
An evening of traditional entertainment with bagpipes and Highland dancers, with a 3 course meal at 7pm on Thursdays and Sundays in July, August and September 2019 at the Beaufort Hotel (11 Culduthel Road, Inverness). Learn to ceilidh dance with top traditional musicians! Tickets £30 per person.

The Highland Malt Whisky Experience
From April to October, every Monday and Thursday at 7pm MacGregor's (bottom of Academy Street) hosts the 90-minute Highland Malt Whisky Experience. Taste 5 malts, learn a bit of history, enjoy some music and tall tales. Pre-booking essential. Tickets £35 per person (or £15 for non drinkers).

Supper with music
Café Artysans (a charity/social enterprise cafe in Strothers Lane near the bus station in Inverness city centre) offers a relaxed evening of good food and traditional music from Feis Rois from 6pm-8pm on the first Thursday every month. Tickets cost £15 per person. This includes a delicious two-course supper, tea/coffee and live music entertainment. Check their Facebook page for details.

Music in pubs/bars/hotels:
Pubs for traditional Scottish Music include Hootananny / Mad Hatters (Church Street), MacGregor's (bottom of Academy Street), and the Gellions (Bridge Street). There's often live music atJohnny Foxes (Bank Street, overlooking the river), Encore Une Fois (in Young Street just over the bridge), the Market Bar (Church Street), The Tooth & Claw (tucked away in Baron Taylor's Street), as well as The Dog House (opposite the post office in Queensgate). MacNabs at the Columba Hotel on the river has live music on Saturday nights.
Piano music at weekends in the bar at the Glenmoriston Hotel on the riverside.
For ceilidhs, try Hootananny on a Saturday afternoon.

Other venues and events:

The invernessGiGs web site includes music news, events listings, reviews, etc.
The Ironworks Live Music Venue at 122b Academy Street features concerts in all genres of music. Tel: 07787 535306.
What's Happening Inverness Facebook page is another good source of local entertainment and activities.

Concerts, shows and other spectacles take place at Eden Court Theatre (near the cathedral on the river). It also has 2 small cinemas with a daily programme of screenings.

Vue is a cinema multiplex a couple of miles outside the city centre.

For art events, The Castle Gallery at 43 Castle Street (tel: 01463 729512) has exhibitions of original contemporary fine and applied art.

The Farmers' Market is held on the first Saturday of each month (except January), with stalls of local produce (meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese, homebaking) in the Eastgate pedestrian area of Inverness city centre.

On Sundays there's a car boot sale at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium from March - December.

For additional events listings, see:

The Inverness City Advertiser - detailed events listings covering music, nightclubs, cinema, theatre, sports, exhibitions, restaurants, etc.
What's on list for Inverness
Visit mi inverness for savings, discounts and deals on restaurants, retail outlets, visitor attractions and local events
invernessGiGs for live music
What's on at Strathpeffer Pavilion
Visit Inverness & Loch Ness - events in the area

Events in 2019:

9 February: Snowman Rally (Highland Car Club)
28 February - 2 March: The Inverness Music Festival
10 March: Inverness Half Marathon and 5K
13 April: Inverness Whisky & Gin Festival - food, music and drink!
12 - 14 April: A Taste of Nairn food and drink festival in Nairn
26 April - 12 May: Inverness Science Festival
27 April: OutDores - music gigs at Dores Inn/beach
28 April: Etape Loch Ness cycle race
5 - 9 May: Cromarty Crime & Thriller Festival
11 May: Inverness Classic Vehicle Show
1 June: The Gathering - a brand new family-friendly music festival at the Northern Meeting Park featuring Tide Lines, The Vatersay Boys, Elephant Sessions, Hó-ró, Siobhan Miller, Torridon, The Trad Project plus the City of Inverness Youth Pipe Band
9 June: Highland Garden Fest at Inverness Botanic Gardens
15 June: Truckness at Dores, by Loch Ness
29 June: European Pipe Band Championships in Inverness for the first time - the biggest piping event in the Highlands!
3 - 4 July: XPO North Festival
5 July: Big Top Tent at Bught Park - Skippinish in Concert at Bught Park
6 July: Big Top Tent at Bught Park - The Proclaimers in concert
6 - 7 July: Exclusively Highlands craft fair at Eden Court
12 July: Free concert at Inverness Cathedral at 7:30pm from the Boston Area Community Singers who are on tour this summer from the USA.
July - August: Caledonian Ceilidh Trail at various venues in the Highlands
19 July: starting at 6pm with performances outside Eden Court Theatre (City of Inverness Pipe Band; the Elizabeth Fraser School of Highland Dancing and members of the Inverness Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society), followed by the 2019 Highlands Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Championships in the Northern Meeting Park
20 July: Inverness Highland Games at Bught Park including a Mass Highland Fling, 19th Regiment Royal Artillery and the Highland Gunners, Inter Clan Gathering, Highland Dancing, the Exclusively Highlands Craft Fair, Fun Fair, Sports Zone, Solo Piping competitions plus all the usual Highland Games events.
21 July: Inverness Gala in Bught Park featuring Proud Ness (LGBTQ+ parade from Crown to Bught Park 1-2pm), Ruff Ness dog show, Junior Shinty Festival, Clan Village, Inverness Gigs musical showcase and much more. Free admission.
26 - 27 July: Loch Ness Film Festival
27 July: Nairn Show with livestock exhibitions, craft fair, food stalls and amusements is held at Kinnudie Farm, Auldearn.
31 July - 1 August: Black Isle Show at Mannsfield Showground, Muir of Ord (tel: 01463 870870). This is the largest agricultural show in the North of Scotland. It attracts over 2,000 cattle, horse and sheep entries, more than 300 trade stands and over 25,000 visitors to the show each year. There is plenty to see and do, craft fair, food fair, 'On the Farm' exhibition for the kids, agricultural stands, vintage rally and sheep shearing.
1 - 3 August: Belladrum - Tartan Heart Festival on the Belladrum Estate, by Beauly. Family-orientated outdoor festival of rock, country, blues and world music.
2 - 3 August: Highland Field Sports Fair at Moy Hall (between Aviemore and Inverness).
9 - 11 August: Nesstival is the Highland's first ever 3-day indoor music festival
10 August: Strathpeffer Highland Gathering
17 August: Kaiser Chiefs in concert, Northern Meeting Park, Inverness
17 August: Nairn Half Marathon
17 August: Nairn Highland Games
18 August: Groove Loch Ness
23 August: Madness in concert, Northern Meeting Park, Inverness
24 August: Glenurquhart Highland Games at Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness
29 - 30 August : Northern Meeting Piping Competition at Eden Court
31 August - 1 September: Doors Open Days in Inverness and area (More info)
8 September: Kirking of the Council - Town House & Old High church
10 - 15 September: Nairn Book & Arts Festival
17 - 21 September: Spirit of Moray book festival (Elgin) including Mark Beaumont and Sue Lawrence
28 September: Agricultural Working Vintage Rally & Display at Daviot Estate near Inverness
September / October: Highland Archaeology Festival - events throughout the region.
3 - 5 October: NessBookFest - Inverness book festival
6 October: Loch Ness Marathon plus 5K and 10K River Ness fun runs.
12 October: World Porridge Making Championship at Carrbridge
12 October: NessCon (Inverness Comic Convention)
16 - 20 October: Loch Ness Knit Fest
26 - 27 October: Halloween at Ness Islands
5 November: Fireworks Display and Bonfire at Bught Park
tbc November: Inverness Film Festival
15, 16, 17 November: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft fair at Eden Court
17 November: Inverness Christmas Lights Switch On
6, 7, 8 December: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft fair at Eden Court
13 - 15 December: Winter Wonderland at Whin Park
31 December: Red Hot Highland Fling - the annual free Hogmanay concert at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. Headlining this year will be Skippinish, Torridon and Dorec-a-belle.

For 2020:
After the success of the one-day music festival in June 2019, The Gathering will be back on 30 May 2020.
The annual Inverness Highland Games will be on 18 July 2020.
The European Pipe Band Championships will be back in Inverness on 27 June 2020.
Inverness will be hosting the Gaelic Royal National Mod from 9 to 17 October 2020 including a Torch Light Procession on the 9th and Massed Choirs Procession and Show at Inverness Castle on the 17th.

A Taste of Nairn will be held 3-5 April 2020 showcasing local food and drink.