Sign up for country fare, viking battles or a gentle cycle rideThe joys of hunting, shooting and scoffing are among the pursuits at this weekend's Scotland's Countryside Festival at Glamis Castle, a two-day event which tries, in
part, to build bridges over the chasm that often separates townies from their rural cousins. Clay pigeon shooting, fly-casting competitions and a display from the Scottish Ferret Club will all give a taste of country pursuits while demonstrations of Cossack riding and jousting from the Devil's Horsemen promise thrills and spills.
The event is also the launch pad for Scottish Food Fortnight. The food hall is likely to be the one location where town and country get on best. Urbanites keen to boost their foodie status will be stockpiling jars of organic beetroot marmalade while grinning smallholders will be counting every penny saved from the clutches of Tesco's profit margins. The Real Ale beer tent is also likely to be popular. Aided by a couple of pints of social lubricant, think of it as a great sport to try and cement relationships between city and country dwellers. The fox-hunting ban, rising fuel costs and poisoned birds of prey are all topics which will provoke endless hours of light-hearted banter with your new friends.
Going head to head with the Countryside Festival is Dundee's Flower and Food Festival in Camperdown Park this weekend. Ainsley Harriott will be sashaying around the cookery demo kitchen while TV's Chris Beardshaw, aka The Flying Gardener, will be giving talks, performing show walkabouts and signing his latest book, How Does Your Garden Grow? Beardshaw's nom de legume could be sexed up a bit – the Red Baron of the Herbaceous Border would cut more of a dash, for example. He should take a lesson from some of the gold medal-winners coming to the Dundee show from the Royal Horticultural Society's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Awarded gold on account of their lily display is the Harts Nursery Crew, an outfit whose name manages to combine horticulture with the dangerous whiff of a football casual outfit.
A different sort of mayhem is on offer in Largs this evening as the Viking Festival comes to a climax. Commemorating the last major clash between the Scots and Vikings in 1263, the event includes a re-enactment of the stramash, a boat-burning and a fireworks display. Spectators are advised not to bring their own battle axes or accelerants to help with the torching of the longship.
A more genteel day is possible tomorrow in the Borders where the 4 Abbeys Cycle Challenge is taking place around the towns of Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and Dryburgh. A charity race for Children 1st, the event offers an 11-mile family meander or a 55-mile, I-think-I'm-about-to-die challenge route. Both start from the 100 Aker Wood Garden Centre in Melrose. A bouncy castle, hog roast and clay model painting are among the attractions at the centre's family fun day, but will there be stalls selling orthopaedic cushions for those who complete the circuit?
Visit: www.scotlandscountrysidefestival.co.uk; www.dundeeflowerandfoodfestival.com; www.largsvikingfestival.com; www.children1st.org.uk
The full article contains 539 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
