Welcome to the 2013 Festival

Location & Travel

Set in beautiful Speyside, visitors are sometimes surprised by the size of the festival and how far apart some events are.   With over 50 distilleries in the Spey Valley, from Speyside and Dalwhinnie distilleries in the south to Roseisle in the North it can take some time to get about the area.  Most events are located centrally and the festival provides a subsided shuttle bus and taxi service.  Festival Rambler tickets can be bought online which allow festival goers to hop on and off buses throughout the festival.

Accommodation

The festival is growing and it can be hard to find accommodation in exactly the right area.  We recommend visitors look at the 'accommodation' section (under the Area tab) of this web site first.  There are some great websites offering lots of information about Speyside and places to stay.  Try any of the following:

www.dufftown.co.uk, www.greaterspeyside.com, www.visitscotland.com

The Festival bus service, for which tickets can be bought separately, means that even if you are staying in Aviemore or Elgin you can still get to the centre of things in time for the first event each day.  The festival is also running a circular 'Festival Rambler' bus service covering central Speyside, tickets for which can be purchased in the Festival Tranasport section of the web site.

About the Festival

Visitors will be able to discover the delights of the dram with tours and tastings at many of the area's 50+ distilleries (including exclusive access to distilleries usually closed to the public). There are plenty of opportunities to explore the outdoors against the beautiful backdrop of Speyside's spectacular scenery and uncover the spirited history of the region that was home to some of the first smugglers' stills.

Festival-goers can join a Whisky and Wildlife Walk to the top of Ben Rinnes, Speyside's "Whisky Mountain", with the chance to spot mountain hares and ptarmigan on their ascent; or they can join in the ‘Wild About Scotland, Wild About Whisky' event at the Scottish Dolphin Centre on the mouth of the River Spey, where they can experience encounters with animals including Moray Firth dolphins, ospreys, otters, seals and more before sampling offerings from some of the best distilleries in the area.
Alternatively whisky lovers can follow in the footsteps of the Speyside smugglers, uncovering the secrets of the smugglers' trail as they enjoy guided Landrover or amphibious Argocat tours.