Saltire Festival set to fly the flag for Scottish culture

The nine-day Saltire Festival includes a concert from Barbara Dickson, a Scottish ceilidh, farmers’ market and whisky dinner as well as a saltire-inspired race day at Musselburgh Racecourse.

The festival, in its third year, runs from Saturday until December 2 and includes the ceremonial handover of the flag at Athelstaneford Church before it is transported to Haddington by horses and raised outside St Mary’s Parish Church.

Tradition has it that the saltire, perhaps Europe’s oldest flag, originated in a battle fought near Athelstaneford in AD 832.