ON STAGE

Pitlochry Festival Theatre is the destination for serious theatre lovers this month. I Can Die Too (11 July to 2 August) is a genuine event, a world premiere written by Frances Ruffelle, Sally George and Alan Cumming, marking Cumming’s first season as Artistic Director as the theatre celebrates its 75th anniversary. Frances Ruffelle, the Olivier-winning original Eponine, leads a cast that includes Stephen Ashfield. It runs alongside Lear (4 July to 1 August) on the main stage, making a proper double bill weekend away.

Glasgow’s King’s Theatre keeps the West End energy going with Mean Girls running until 11 July, the razor sharp, teen comedy still selling well in its final week. Over in Edinburgh, dance fans should watch out for Lord of the Dance: 30th Anniversary (16 to 19 July, Edinburgh Playhouse), marking three decades of the global Irish dance phenomenon with an extraordinary new touring production.

International circus company Cirqulation brings their acclaimed show JOURNEY on the road throughout July, with director Jusztina taking it to Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree (9 July), Ullapool (10 July), Isle of Skye (11 July) and Dunoon (18 July) for a mix of indoor and outdoor performances.

In fact, Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree is having a moment all month hosting an International Season, including the magical, clown filled family show FoRT (28 to 29 July), the darkly funny immersive comedy thriller Werewolf (24 to 25 July) and the inventive, suitcase staged short story collection Suitcase Show (31 July to 1 August) all on the bill.

In Glasgow, Glory Mold: 2084 (24 to 29 July, St Enoch Centre, free) imagines a fungi-fuelled AI in the ruins of a 2084 data farm. Thought provoking, slightly eerie and very much in keeping with the ambition of this year’s Surge Festival.

Scottish Opera’s family friendly 30 minute mini-opera Be a Sport, Spike! continues touring through to 1 August, a fun, accessible way to introduce younger audiences to opera over the summer.

And (deep breath) Edinburgh Fringe previews get underway: venues like Gilded Balloon, Assembly and Pleasance start soft launching shows from late July, often at a fraction of August prices.
Need help navigating the programme? We’ve got you covered.

ART AND EXHIBITIONS

Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop opens this month (18 July to 9 January 2027), making its Scottish debut at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh. Costumes worn by Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Nicole Kidman, Jenna Coleman and Johnny Depp arrive from the legendary London costume house, with highlights including outfits from A Room with a View, Downton Abbey and Pirates of the Caribbean. A serious treat for anyone who loves a period drama. Pop in to see the Elizabeth Blackadder exhibition A Life in Colour (to 14 November), while you’re there.

Following the textiles theme, the LEÒDHAS is Highland-raised designer Siobhan Mackenzie’s sculptural new collection celebrating 120 years of Harris Tweed mill Kenneth Mackenzie (to 30 September, The Garden, Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, Edinburgh, free). Mackenzie’s clients include Jared Leto and Shania Twain, and the exhibition includes a kilt worn by Sam Heughan for the Outlander Season 8 premiere, looks worn by Richard Rankin and Harriet Slater, and archive correspondence from Vivienne Westwood. Workshops and fittings run through summer.

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Over in Dundee, V&A Dundee’s big exhibitions continue the theme: Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show continues (to 17 January 2027), charting the evolution of runway shows into the global spectacles they’ve become. There’s also Design and Disability (to 4 October, free), showcasing the radical contributions of Disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent people to design and culture through around 170 objects, from Microsoft’s adaptive Xbox controller to grassroots zines and DIY creations. Football fever takes over the building too, with free creative workshops, football inspired fashion and family activities tying in with the World Cup.

Kelvingrove, meanwhile, is going unashamedly pink with Barbie: The Exhibition (to 18 October, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow). Fashion, nostalgia, design history and a frankly impressive quantity of pink. Commit to the outfit. You know you want to.

From Fairlie to the World: The Fife Design Story opens this month at the Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) in Dumbarton, celebrating the extraordinary yacht-building dynasty that put the Ayrshire village of Fairlie on the international map.

History buffs should head to Scotland’s First Warriors, a free exhibition newly opened at National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, which uses over 250 objects, including the internationally significant Carnoustie Hoard, to trace the origins of organised conflict in Scotland from the Neolithic through to the Romans.

Study for North Bridge at the capital’s City Art Centre (18 July to 13 September), is lovely, a moving image work from Rachel McBrinn and Jonathan Webb marking the restoration of Edinburgh’s North Bridge.

Finally, to mark her 30th birthday, the National Museum of Scotland hosts Dolly at 30: The Life and Legacy of a Cloned Sheep (16 July, 18:30 to 20:30, free, booking required), an evening exploring the history of Dolly, the world’s first cloned mammal from an adult cell. Properly fascinating, and very Scottish science history.

TALKS AND COMEDY

Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s A Beer, A Bap and A Boffin returns this summer with another brilliant series of relaxed lunchtime talks presented in partnership with the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Set in the theatre’s picturesque outdoor Amphitheatre, Prof Penny Fielding FRSE is up first (21 July) talking about Scottish spy fiction and Prof Jennifer Smith FBA FRSE turns the spotlight on the Scots language (24 July). Thought-provoking conversation, fresh air and a bap in hand: a very Pitlochry way to spend a summer lunchtime.

Stand up royalty is touring this month. Stewart Lee vs The Man Wulf hits both King’s Theatre Glasgow (13 to 14 July) and Edinburgh Playhouse (15 July). Richard Ayoade also stops by King’s Theatre Glasgow (15 July) with Afterthoughts, trademark deadpan intact.

Glasgow Southside’s annual Laugh in the Park returns to Queens Park Arena for year six, proving so popular a second date has been added (11 and 24 July).

And did we mention Edinburgh Fringe previews? More comedy than you can shake a stick at.

MUSIC

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (17 to 26 July, various venues) brings ragtime, modern jazz, Chicago blues and more to the city’s pubs, clubs and concert halls.

Meanwhile Edinburgh Castle Esplanade hosts a string of big outdoor names this month, with James Taylor (14 July), Deacon Blue (17 July) and Snow Patrol (18 July) all playing the Castle Concerts series, one of Scotland’s most atmospheric gig settings. They’re mostly sold out, so keep an eye out online for resales.

In Glasgow, Bellahouston Park‘s Summer Sessions brings Kings of Leon and My Chemical Romance through July, while Kelvingrove Bandstand‘s Summer Nights offers 17 nights of music including The Flaming Lips, MIKA, Suzanne Vega and Marti Pellow.

If you want real spectacle this month, head to the OVO Hydro on 23 July for an immersive Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony as part of the festivities, the first time the Games have staged a ceremony inside an arena.

FESTIVALS

Glasgow is where to be this month if you like a party. Glasgow Life‘s flagship summer festival, Merchant City Festival (24 July to 2 August), doubles in size this year thanks to Glasgow 2026 Festival funding, with a major new indoor hub opening at The Briggait. Kid-friendly highlights include a free Children’s Storytelling Picnic with Tawona Sithole, a hands on Future Town Planners workshop and ten days of global street food in Candleriggs Square. Surge Festival (24 to 26 July and 31 July to 2 August) brings unique street theatre acts from around the UK and the world to run as part of the same programme.

Scotland’s largest multicultural music and dance festival, Glasgow Mela (5 July, Kelvingrove Park), returns with food, dance and craft for all the family, while the Glasgow Vegan Summer Festival (12 July, Easterhouse Sports Centre) brings a spectacular spread of vegan food, beauty, homeware and crafts for plant-based browsers of all stripes.

Further north, Speyfest (24 to 26 July, Fochabers) will be celebrating the best in traditional and contemporary Celtic music. Tide Lines close on the Sunday, following an impressive roll call of artists including Natalie MacMaster, Kim Carnie, Elephant Sessions and Ellie Beaton, and a strong roster of local fiddlers. It’s a brilliant, lower key alternative to the big name festivals if you want a proper family folk weekend in the countryside.

Likewise, HebCelt (15 to 18 July) brings the best of trad and contemporary Gaelic music and culture to the fore in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. Manran, The Mary Wallopers and The Saw Doctors are headlining.

Scotland’s best loved family festival, Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival (30 July to 1 August, Belladrum Estate, near Beauly), returns with James, The Human League and Callum Beattie headlining, alongside MIKA, Razorlight, Kula Shaker and Scouting For Girls. Under tens go free, and the family camping zones with mini ceilidhs and storytelling make it one of the most genuinely child friendly big festivals around.

FOODIE

Edinburgh chef Roberta Hall McCarron’s famous Ardfern burgers head next door to The Little Chartroom for an exclusive two day pop up (21 to 22 July, 12 to 9pm, eat in or takeaway). Expect the signature Double Smash Burger with cheese, pickles and bacon jam mayo, a Fried Chicken burger with gravy mayo, peach hot sauce and kimchi, a Fish Finger bun with curry sauce and slaw, and a veggie Fried Maitake Mushroom bun, all rounded off with a Chocolate and Cherry Sundae or a Root Beer Float. Two of Edinburgh’s best loved kitchens, one unmissable weekend.

Dunoon‘s first ever food and drink festival, Taste Dunoon (25 to 26 July, Dunoon seafront), will be officially opened by Scotland’s National Chef Gary Maclean, with over 65 producers including Dumpling Mama, Wee Knob of Butter and Selkie Seaweed. The PS Waverley sails over from Glasgow on the Friday and there’s a ceilidh at the Argyll Hotel on Saturday evening, making it a proper doon the watter weekend away.

Scotland’s first natural wine fair, the Wild Wine Fair (26 July, 10am to 5pm, Timberyard, Edinburgh), returns for its seventh year, with 17 wine suppliers descending on the Michelin starred restaurant. General admission is £25 and includes a tasting glass, and Timberyard’s good friends Higher Ground from Manchester pop up with smash burgers and doughnuts for the day.

For a treat yourself outing with older kids or teens, Bake Off: The Professionals contestant Grete Butkute hosts her first ever pop up afternoon tea at Coorie Inn in Muthill, near Crieff (19 July, 12:30pm, £45 or £50 with a glass of Cémant), with a menu inspired by her time on the show, including raspberry and timur pepper tart, rhubarb éclair and Loch Duart salmon.

OUTDOORS

The biggest sporting moment of the Scottish summer (what World Cup?…) arrives with the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games (23 July to 2 August, various venues), a ten sport programme including the largest ever Para Sport medal event programme. Even non-sporty households will feel the buzz, with fan zones, big screens and a dedicated Candleriggs Festival Village running throughout.
Check out our guide to making a day of it.

For something a little more sedate, Bard in the Botanics (to 1 August, Glasgow Botanic Gardens) is marking its 25th anniversary season with Twelfth Night, Othello, Emma and The Duchess of Malfi all on the bill.

In East Kilbride, the National Museum of Rural Life celebrates its 25th Anniversary Day (4 July, 10am to 5pm, free with admission) with 25 new and vintage tractors parading the grounds, Clydesdale horses and sheep dressed for competition, and the chance to meet new arrivals Eigg and Muck, the museum’s eight week old Highland calves. A proper great day out for tractor mad little ones, and big ones.

Up north, the Inverness Highland Games (11 July, Bught Park) bring caber tossing, pipe bands and Highland dancing to the heart of the Highland capital, a classic family day out, while at the opposite end of the country in Jedburgh, the annual Jethart Callant Festival runs throughout the summer with riders in full ceremonial finery honour one of the Borders’ most treasured traditions.

Longer evenings, warmer temperatures and a distinct sense that Scotland has fully remembered how to be wonderful. The Deck at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh continues its late-night summer openings with sunset drinks and Edinburgh skyline views that justify the journey on their own.
We’ve got a whole host of rooftop bars across Scotland worth your while.

KIDS

Family theatre leads the way this month with Zog (4 to 5 July, The Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow; 7 to 12 July, The Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s accident prone dragon brought to joyful, song filled life with puppets by Little Angel. Most suitable for 3 plus, though honestly the puppetry will charm anyone in the room.

Meanwhile Aberdeen’s His Majesty’s Theatre welcomes Mr Tumble for CBeebies House Party Live (24 July), a one date only stop that will sell out fast with the under five crowd.

Still spread all over Glasgow is the Scotties in the City Art Trail (to 16 August) – 50 beautifully designed giant Scottie dogs all over the city to hunt down – for free of course.

And if you’re anywhere near South Lanarkshire, Bonnie the Brontosaurus (daily, to 11 August, M&D’s Scotland’s Theme Park) is roaming the park. Europe’s largest walking dinosaur stands over three metres tall, with baby hatchlings to meet too, all free with park entry. A guaranteed hit with dinosaur-obsessed under tens.

There’s loads more, of course. Have a look at our rolling guide to what’s on for kids through the summer holidays.

July calling! More than 50 things to see and do around Scotland

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