Scottish Smallholding & Countryside Festival

The Scottish Smallholding & Countryside Festival is on at the Royal Highland Centre on Saturday 17 October, a one-day celebration of rural life held entirely indoors at Ingliston. It's billed as a smaller version of the Highland Show, and it shares the same venue, though this one stays under cover.

The livestock competitions are the main draw. There's a Pig Show that's promoted as the only one of its kind in Scotland, alongside shows for sheep, goats and poultry. Cattle, equines and alpacas are there too, though they're showcased rather than competed. Around those, the day is filled with seminars, theatres, demonstrations and farming-based trade stands, so it's as much about talking and watching as it is about the animals.

Behind it is a Scottish Charity (SCIO) that's VAT registered, run by a small team of about eight volunteers plus a Secretary and a Treasurer. The Scottish Government also supports the event. It's a community-led thing, then, rather than a commercial production.

If you're heading over, it's all at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, Edinburgh, on Saturday 17 October. The whole thing is indoors, so it's a dry day out regardless of the weather.