With a week to go until the funding application deadline, the Homecoming Scotland team is delighted with the interest Scotland’s event organisers have shown in the £1 million Themed Events Programme.
Applications for the programme, which provides funding opportunities to enhance or develop events run as part of the Homecoming celebrations, must be submitted by midday on February 26.
Homecoming Scotland 2009 aims to motivate people of Scottish descent, as well as those who simply love Scotland, to come home in 2009 and take part in an inspirational celebration of our culture, heritage and the many great contributions Scotland has given to the world.
2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, with the programme’s design guided by Scotland’s unique position as the home of Burns, Golf, Whisky, the Enlightenment and Innovation, and of course as the ancestral home of millions of people of Scots descent worldwide.
Essential to the success of Homecoming Scotland is the creation of a strong and inspiring programme of events and activity taking place in Scotland during 2009 that will engage and motivate Scots at home and abroad to take part in the celebrations. Already, an exciting range of activities are being proposed from the Western Isles to the Scottish Borders and everywhere in between.
The Themed Events Programme has funding totalling £1million to support events taking place through 2009 and which reflect the themes and help deliver the objectives for Homecoming Scotland. Of those which apply for funds, events which present the strongest case in terms of generating additional tourism, reflecting the themes and engaging with Scotland’s wider global family will be in the strongest position for receiving support.
The programme of Homecoming events will complement the vast range of world-class attractions and events already offered in Scotland. From the world's biggest ever Clan Gathering in Edinburgh to Celtic Connections in Glasgow and from the Open Championship at Turnberry to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, there will be something special for everyone.
