Tuesday 24 March 2015

Royal Highland Show 2015

Here at The Dunstane Hotel we get very excited at this time of year. Well, to be fair we're always excited about something going on in Edinburgh, but the Royal Highland Show (18th-21st June 2015) gives the city a special buzz! Our luxurious rooms are booked up by exhibitors and visitors alike, all needing a peaceful place to relax and a good dinner in our Skerries restaurant after a busy day. With over 5,000 livestock being exhibited and around 180,000 visitors at the show the show is almost unrecognisable from its humble beginnings in the Canongate area of Edinburgh.

Heavy horse diaplay at the Royal Highland Show 2014First held in December 1822 and it showcased just 60-75 cattle, 8 sheep and according to The Scotsman at the time, "two beautiful pigs"! The Royal family have had a keen interest in the show since the early 1900's and Queen Victoria started a long line of Royal patrons of the show. George VI, father of current patron, Her Majesty The Queen, bestowed the title of Royal to the show in 1948. For 130 years the show moved between Edinburgh, Glasgow
and Perth until it found a permanent home at Ingliston in 1960. This year is the 175th Royal Highland Show and it already looks like it will be an especially busy year for both Royal Highland Show and The Dunstane!

The Highland Show really does have something for everyone. You definitely need at least a full day to get round everything, even if you're not in the agriculture business you can't help but appreciate the quality of the livestock from the gentle giants of the equine world to champion dairy cows. Of course, the Highlands are not complete without Scotland's most famous livestock the - Highland "Coo"! If after all that livestock is still not impressing, well the Royal Highland Show exhibitors have a lot more to throw at you!

If you fancy a laugh be sure to catch the terrier racing or for something with more of a'wow factor' there are incredible falconry displays or catch the Show Jumping to see the bond between horse and rider at it's best. There's plenty for the kids to get involved with too, getting up close to some of the animals, take a ride on a tractor or get creative and put those little hands to good use in the craft tent. There is a whole shopping area and of course no event like this would be complete without the Food Hall!


So we need to stop now, if we tell you everything that's happening not only would we run out of space to type, but it would spoil the surprise! Rooms book up fast at The Dunstane so give us a call soon and we'd love to see your pictures and hear about your experiences at the Royal Highland Show 2015, get in touch on our facebook page www.facebook.com/dunstanehotels or on twitter @The Dunstane 



For details and tickets for the Highland Show visit http://royalhighlandshow.org/