Here are some of the Inverness Events that are scheduled to take place in or near Inverness in 2022. The schedule may be affected by due to COVID-19 restrictions so please check with any of the actual event organisers for changes or potential cancellations.
Music in pubs/bars/hotels:
These are some of the most popular local venues:
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 main bridge), the Market Bar (Church Street) and The Tooth & Claw (tucked away in Baron Taylor’s Street).
For ceilidhs, try Hootananny on a Saturday afternoon.
The invernessGiGs web site includes music news, events listings, reviews, etc.
Cinema and Theatre
Eden Court Theatre and Cinema in Inverness by the River Ness.
Vue (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.
Other venues and events:
The Inverness 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.
The Highland Food & Drink Trail has a variety of street food vendors on the riverside near the Cathedral (usually Wednesday – Sunday during the summer, weekends in winter).
The Inverness Royal British Legion Pipe Band will perform in Inverness city centre every Tuesday night at 7pm from 27 June to 29 August 2023. There’s also usually a performance of local Highlander dancers.
Events in 2023:
- 14 – 15 January: Strathpuffer 24-hour Mountain Bike Endurance Event in Strathpeffer
- 18 February: Highland Shortbread Showdown at the Victorian Market in Inverness (10am – 3pm) where local businesses compete for the best shortbread to go into the Highland final on 25 March.
- 4 March: AM Phillip Trucktech Snowman Rally at the Black Isle Showground near Muir of Ord, just north of Inverness.
- 12 March: Inverness Half Marathon and 5K
- 25 March: Highland Shortbread Showdown – the final at the Inverness Cathedral (10am – 3pm) with live music, food & drink stalls, treasure hunt, etc.
- 1-2 April: The BRITS 2023 – the UK’s official Snowboard and Freeski Championships will be hosted at Cairngorm Mountain near Aviemore
- 7 – 8 April: Easter Egg Hunt around Inverness city centre
- 15 April: Annual Commemoration Service at Culloden Battlefield
- 21 – 23 April: Crime & Thriller Festival at Cromarty on the Black Isle
- 23 April: Etape Loch Ness cycle race
- 28 – 30 April: Taste of Nairn celebrating local food and drink
- 14 May: Inverness Performance Car Show with up to 1000 cars on display at Dores
- 20 May: Inverness Classic Vehicle Show with around 150 classic and vintage vehicles on display in the city centre – plus music & entertainment
- 20 – 21 May: Exclusively Highlands craft & food fair at Wildwoodz just outside Inverness (10am – 3pm)
- 26 May – 4 June: Loch Ness Festival – NOW POSTPONED
- 27 May: The Gathering is a music festival in Inverness at the Northern Meeting Park
- 28 May: Vintage Day with classic / vintage cars, buses, tractors and more at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore
- 3 June: Ardersier Gala Classic Car Show and Parade
- 10 June: Man V Horse Scotland where runners go head-to-head with horses on a 12 km or 24 km circuit on South Loch Ness.
- mid June: Inverness Provincial Mod – annual Gaelic competitions at Eden Court Theatre
- 17 June: Woodzstock music festival on the Black Isle
- 17 June: Ness Gin Fest at Inverness Ice Rink (1pm – 4pm and 5.30pm – 8.30pm)
- 30 June: Clean Bandit in concert with Ella Henderson at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness
- 1 July: The National Whisky Festival of Scotland at Eden Court in Inverness
- 2 July: Rag ‘n’ Bone Man in concert at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness
- 5 July – 26 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.
- 7 July: As You Like It – Outdoor Theatre at Cawdor Castle
- 15 July: Inverness Highland Games
- 15 – 16 July: Exclusively Highlands craft & food fair at Wildwoodz just outside Inverness (10am – 3pm)
- 22 July: Highland Pride LGBT+ march and gathering at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness
- tbc 23 July: Nairn Triathlon with an open water swim alongside Nairn beach, a cycle in the Nairnshire countryside and a run along the beach front.
- 27 – 29 July: Belladrum – Tartan Heart Festivalhuge music festival on the Belladrum Estate, near Beauly.
- tbc 29 July: Nairn Show – livestock exhibitions, craft fair, food stalls and amusements.
- 30 July: MacHamLear – Outdoor Theatre at Cawdor Castle
- 2 – 3 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.
- 4 – 5 August: Highland Field Sports Fair at Moy Hall (between Aviemore and Inverness).
- 5 August: Strathpeffer Highland Gathering in the grounds of Castle Leod.
- tbc 12 August: Truckness at the Black Isle Showground, Muir Of Ord.
- 19 August: Nairn Highland Games
- 26 August: Glenurquhart Highland Games at Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness
- 26 August: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Outdoor Theatre at Cawdor Castle
- 26 – 27 August: Loch Ness 24: 24-hour solo or team relay trail running race with 7 km laps along the shore of Loch Ness near Aldourie Castle.
- 31 August – 1 September: Northern Meeting Piping Competition at Eden Court
- 31 August – 3 September: Nairn Book & Arts Festival
- 1 – 9 September: Blas Festival ceilidhs and concerts across the Highlands.
- 9 – 10 September: Exclusively Highlands craft & food fair at Wildwoodz just outside Inverness (10am – 3pm)
- 9 – 10 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.
- 17 September: Aviemore Triathlon starting with an open-water swim in Loch Morlich.
- 23 September – 13 October: Highland Archaeology Festival
- 28 – 30 September: NessBookFest – Inverness book festival
- 1 October: Loch Ness Marathon plus 5K and 10K River Ness fun runs.
- 7 October: World Porridge Making Championship at Carrbridge
- 20 – 22 October: Exclusively Highlands craft & food fair at Wildwoodz just outside Inverness (10am – 3pm)
- tbc late October: NC50 Music Fest – a brand new live music festival with over 50 bands and musicians performing at more than 15 venues in Inverness city centre including Hootananny, Johnny Foxes & The Den and Jimmy Badgers.
- tbc end October: Bootanics – Halloween event at Inverness Botanic Gardens
- 4 November: Wee Monster, part of the Monsterfest at Eden Court
- tbc November: from Wednesday to Saturday, Brodie Illuminated is when The National Trust for Scotland illuminates the grounds around Brodie Castle near Forres
- tbc November: Inverness Film Festival at Eden Court Theatre
- tbc 5 November: Bonfire night and fireworks at Bught Park
- 17 – 19 November: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft & food fair at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness (10am – 5pm)
- 25 November: Christmas Extravaganza in Nairn
- 1 – 3 December: Exclusively Highlands Christmas craft & food fair at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness (10am – 5pm)
- December: Annual pantomime at Eden Court Theatre
- 31 December: Red Hot Highland Fling – free Hogmanay outdoor concert at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness
Annual Events:
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). 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.
Music in pubs/bars/hotels:
Most nights there’s traditional Scottish Music at Hootananny (Church Street) and the Gellions (opposite the tourist information centre), as well as live music at Johnny Foxes (Bank Street, overlooking the river) and the Market Bar (Church Street). Also try The Waterfront Pub (Huntly Street) for traditional Scottish music.
Piano music on Friday & Saturday nights in the bar at the Glenmoriston Hotel on the riverside.
For ceilidhs, try Hootananny on a Saturday afternoon and The Phoenix Ale House on Sunday afternoons.
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.
For more venues, see the notice board in the tourist information office or posters around the city centre.
Vue is a cinema multiplex a couple of miles outside the city centre.
Concerts and other spectacles take place at Eden Court Theatre (near the cathedral on the river).
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, home baking) 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.
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