Events in 2025:

Due to open in the latter half of 2025, the Inverness Castle Experience will be a new visitor attraction with interactive exhibitions, Ceilidh Rooms, cafe, restaurant, viewing platform, garden, etc.

• 11 - 12 January: Strathpuffer 24-hour Mountain Bike Endurance Event in Strathpeffer
• 8 February: Strathpeffer Pavilion Food & Craft Fair (11am - 3pm)
• 22 February - 9 March: Inverness and Loch Ness Food and Drink Fortnight with lots of events and offers
• 1 March: Taste of Inverness at the Kingsmills Hotel (10am - 2pm) with stalls, demos and speakers
• 8 March: Shortbread Showdown Grand Final at Eden Court Theatre (10am - 2pm) with live music, food & drink stalls, etc.
• 9 March: Inverness Half Marathon and 5K
• 6 - 9 and 13 - 16 March: Inverness Music Festival – local amateur competitions at Inverness Methodist Church
• 15 March: Strathpeffer Pavilion Food & Craft Fair (11am - 3pm)
• 18 - 19 April: Easter Egg Hunt around Inverness city centre plus Easter activities for kids in the Victorian Market
• 19 April: Annual Commemoration Service at Culloden Battlefield at 10.30am
• 26 April: Inverness Cathedral craft & food market (outdoors)
• 27 April: Etape Loch Ness epic cycle race
• 2 - 4 May: Crime & Thriller Festival at Cromarty on the Black Isle
• 3 - 4 May: Black Isle Belter music festival at the Black Isle Showground
• 3 - 4 May: Ultra X ultra marathons around Loch Ness (50km & 100km races)
• 9 - 11 May: Taste of Nairn celebrating local food and drink
• 10 - 11 May: Exclusively Highlands Art and Craft market at Wildwoodz near Munlochy (10 miles north of Inverness)
• 16 - 17 May: Beauly Buzz Festival
• 17 May: Inverness Classic Vehicle Show with around 150 classic and vintage vehicles on display in the city centre - plus music & entertainment
• 18 May: Inverness Performance Car Show with up to 1000 cars on display at Dores
• 22 - 25 May: The Quest for the Loch Ness Monster at The Loch Ness Centre, Drumnadrochit
• 24 May: The Gathering trad music festival in Inverness at the Northern Meeting Park
• 25 May: Vintage Day with classic / vintage cars, buses, tractors and more at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore
• 29 May - 7 June: Inverness Festival of Walking and Wheeling
• 31 May: The Gin To My Tonic Gin, Rum & Vodka Festival at Eden Court Theatre
• 31 May: Ardersier Gala Classic Car Show and Parade
• 1 June: Race for Life in Inverness
• 7 June: Outlander Day at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore
• 7 June: The Loch Ness Classic and Vintage Car Tour starting and finishing in Inverness
• 7 June: Beauly Distilled - drink (and food) festival at Beauly Holiday Park
• 7 June: Highland Pride march through Inverness city centre for the LGBTQ+ community with stalls and entertainment at Eden Court Theatre
• 14 June: Woodzstock music festival on the Black Isle
• 20 - 21 June: Inverness Provincial Mod - annual Gaelic competitions at Eden Court Theatre
• 28 June: Bluesy Beauly music festival at the Beauly Holiday Park
• 2 July - 23 August: Under Canvas - live music and DJ sets on the lawn at Eden Court Theatre. This is a family-friendly event in stretch tents with a bar serving pizzas, local beers, gins, whisky, etc.
• 5 July: Scottish National Whisky Festival at Eden Court in Inverness
• 6 July: Scottish National Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships at Nairn
• 9 - 10 August: Celebration of the Centuries at Fort George near Inverness - re-enactment event depicting over 2000 years of Scottish history
• 12 July: Inverness Highland Games
• 12 July: A Midsummer Night's Dream in the grounds of Cawdor Castle
• 26 July: Nairn Show - livestock exhibitions, craft fair, food stalls and amusements.
• 31 July - 2 August: Belladrum - Tartan Heart Festivalhuge music festival on the Belladrum Estate, near Beauly.
• 2 August: Inverness Comic Con at Inverness Leisure Centre
• 7 August: Black Isle Show at the Showground, Muir of Ord. 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.
• 8 - 9 August: Moy Country Fair (between Aviemore and Inverness).
• 9 August: Strathpeffer Highland Gathering in the grounds of Castle Leod.
• 16 August: Nairn Highland Games
• 23 August: Truckness at the Black Isle Showground, Muir Of Ord.
• 23 August: Glenurquhart Highland Games at Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness
• 28 August: Much Ado About Nothing in the grounds of Cawdor Castle
• late August: Kessock Ferry Swim - a 1200-metre swim across the tidal narrows South & North Kessock.
• tbc 31 August - 7 September: Nairn Book & Arts Festival
• 6 September: Northern Star Country Music Festival at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness
• 3 - 15 September: Blas Festival ceilidhs and concerts across the Highlands.
• tbc early September: Kirking of the Council - civic procession from Inverness Town House to Ness Bank Church
• 11 - 12 September: Northern Meeting Piping Competition at Eden Court
• 13 - 14 September: Rat Race Coast to Coast - a 105-mile adventure race where participants run, bike and kayak from Nairn to Cawdor Castle and Loch Ness then down the Great Glen to Fort William and finish in Glen Coe.
• 14 September: Aviemore Triathlon starting with an open-water swim in Loch Morlich.
• 20 September: 2025 Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup Final in Bught Park, Inverness
• 28 September: Loch Ness Marathon plus 5K and 10K River Ness fun runs.
• 2 - 4 October: NessBookFest is the Inverness book festival - 'Nature' is the theme for 2025
• tbc October: Highland Archaeology Festival
• 4 October: World Porridge Making Championship at Carrbridge
• 17 - 26 October: Loch and Land Festival - outdoor activities, taster sessions and more at this new local festival
• 25 - 26 October: Exclusively Highlands Autumn Craft market and food stalls at Wildwoodz near Munlochy (10 miles north of Inverness)
• tbc November: Inverness Film Festival at Eden Court Theatre
• tbc November: from Thursday to Sunday, Brodie Illuminated is when The National Trust for Scotland illuminates the grounds around Brodie Castle near Forres
• tbc 5 November: Bonfire night and fireworks at Bught Park, Inverness
• 14 - 16 November: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft & food fair at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
• late November: Christmas Lights switch-on in Falcon Square, Inverness
• 28 - 30 November: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft & food fair at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
• 31 December 2025: Red Hot Highland Fling Hogmanay concert at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness