This weekend sees the re-opening of one of the most important sites in Scottish history – the palace at Stirling Castle. To celebrate this Historic Scotland is putting an extra effort with festivities and events.
On Saturday, the splender kicks off at 11.45 with a royal procession whih will include Mary, Queen of Scots and Mary of Guise and the rest of the “royal” party to be welcomed by cannon fire.
Sixty performers will be converging on the castle from all across Scotland and England (so the press release, one of five I’ve had about the castle, says) to take part in “Stirling Castle Presents- a Palace Fit for a Queen. There will be sixteenth century music, make-up of the time demonstrations, a military encampment and a cooking demonstration that is different. There will be a model of the warship, The Great Michael, made from sugar and, on its decks, there will be cannon firing miniature cannon balls! Talk about making an occasion out of a meal!
Inside the castle, it was known that there were tapestries about the unicorn. Now, after taking 10 years to weave, a new set of tapestries will hang recounting an interpretation of hunting it.
For the first time in centuries, the Stirling Heads will be on display. These nearly 500 year old wooden roundels of kings, queens, mythical beings and imps and been reunited and will be back on display in a new gallery that was only opened on Thursday by the minister responsible for heritage, Fiona Hyslop.
This is going to be a popular attraction this weekend so the recommendation is to use a special park-and-ride service that has been set up running from Castle View. There will be AA guide signs from the M9. Separately, there will be special buses running from the bus and railway stations.
For this weekend only, the opening hours have been extended to from 10am till 7pm. If you haven’t booked tickets already then you can get them at www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk. Some will be available for sale on the day but check first.

image courtesy of Historic Scotland