Royal Highland Show backs Scottish trad talent

A major new partnership is set to bring one of Scotland’s most exciting contemporary folk festivals to the capital for the very first time.

For one day only on Saturday 20 June, the Royal Highland Show will partner with renowned trad music festival The Reeling to stage The Royal Highland Show presents The Reeling at the Royal Highland Centre.

Following the success of the Royal Highland Hoolie over the past three years, organisers at the Royal Highland Centre have teamed up with The Reeling – the celebrated festival founded in Glasgow – to deliver a bumper trad music experience during the iconic Show weekend.

The one-day Highland Show edition of The Reeling will shine a spotlight on the very best of Scotland’s contemporary trad scene, with a line-up featuring Breabach, Dlù, Dougie MacLean, Elephant Sessions, Kinnaris Q and Skippinish.

Advance tickets went on sale at 9.00am on Tuesday, March 3 via the Royal Highland Show website. Combined Royal Highland Show and The Reeling entry is priced at £75, with Reeling-only tickets available at £45 and child tickets at £27.50. A VIP upgrade for The Reeling can be purchased for an additional £30.

Gate prices will be higher and availability cannot be guaranteed, so early booking is advised.

The Royal Highland Centre – Scotland’s largest indoor and outdoor venue – delivers some of the biggest events in the country, welcoming more than one million visitors every year. As well as hosting the Royal Highland Show, which attracts over 220,000 visitors to Ingliston across its four-day run, the venue has become a major destination for live music.

This August, it will welcome a series of Summer Sessions featuring Biffy Clyro, Florence and the Machine and brand-new festival Heather on the Hill, created by Nathan Evans and Saint PHNX.

The arrival of The Reeling signals another significant step in the venue’s ambition to grow and diversify its festival and large-scale event offering.

Director at the Royal Highland Centre, Mark Currie said: “This is an incredibly exciting partnership opportunity for us and really signifies the direction we are going in as we continue to build and strengthen our event and festival offering at the Royal Highland Centre.

“The Royal Highland Show weekend is the perfect platform for an event like this. Over the past three years, the musical element of the Show through the Royal Highland Hoolie has become a real draw for show-goers, and we know that partnering with The Reeling will only build on that momentum.

“Bringing one of Scotland’s most exciting trad music festivals to Ingliston for a special Highland Show edition feels like a natural evolution, and we’re proud to be working with The Reeling to create something new and ambitious as part of the Show weekend.”

Founded by Michael Pellegrotti, co-director of Skye Live, The Reeling has quickly established itself as a flagship celebration of contemporary Scottish folk music since launching at Rouken Glen Park in 2023.

Michael Pellegrotti, founder of The Reeling, said: “We’re delighted to partner with The Royal Highland Show to bring The Reeling to Edinburgh for the first time. Both events celebrate the very best of Scotland, making this a natural collaboration.

“With a fantastic line-up of artists and so much to experience at the Show, it’s set to be a great day out for everyone.”