Perth & Kinross Council

This year's SACCAP Potato Conference runs under the theme the new six Ps: Promote Potatoes with Passion and Produce Potatoes to Perfection.

As usual the event will tackle the most relevant topics facing potato producers today with Scotland’s top experts presenting on a range of areas with a focus on how to promote potatoes to consumers as they face ever expanding choices on the supermarket shelves.

The event will also see the presentation of the prize to the SRUC Elmwood student who has invented the most innovative recipe for potatoes.

For their 2016 conference, SAOS are continuing with the format of two morning forum workshops. They expect this year’s topics to prove popular as SAOS’ Jim Booth will be joined by Angela Tregear and Sarah Cooper of Edinburgh University Business School to discuss the results of a study of four marketing co-ops and the role co-ops play in supporting KT/learning amongst their members. The other forum, hosted by their next generation team members, with guest speakers, examines why we sometimes criticise, rather than celebrate, business expansion and success, assuming “they just got lucky”.

The second Annual General Meeting of Scottish Rural Action takes place at 1pm on Friday 4 March 2016 at The New County Hotel in Perth (click here for directions).

The AGM is preceded by presentations, speakers and a workshop. Participants are welcome to attend the full afternoon or just the formal business of the AGM. You do not have to be a member to attend either the full afternoon or the AGM.

This one-day course will provide you with an understanding of the significance and usefulness of a fundraising strategy and will provide you with the tools to construct an effective plan for your organisation.

You will learn the principles of a fundraising model for heritage organisations and will begin to construct a strategy for your own organisation.

The training covers:

researching and identifying sustainable sources of private income

developing project profiles

pitching your project

The Festival is hugely popular and sells out very quickly so make sure you book your tickets as soon as possible for storytelling around the fire in the Crannog, fire-juggling, sacrificial wicker ram burn, apple-ducking, soup and many surprises, all lit by flaming torches.

Come in ‘guise and bring a jack-o-lantern to light your way into the spirit world. Samhain at the Crannog is a unique experience and sees visitors travelling from far and wide to attend; many of them year after year so don’t miss out!

Nowadays, with a wide variety of food available all year round, we have no problem sourcing our winter provisions but our ancient ancestors did not have that luxury. They had to devise ways of storing their food for the long winter ahead of them.

Join us for a celebration of seasonal fare including tasters of fungi, hazelnuts, soups and stews representing the kind of foods the loch-dwellers would have eaten at this time of year.

Booking essential for large groups only.

Call 01887 830853 or email info@crannog.co.uk.

Another of the four traditional Celtic Festivals, ‘Lughnasa’ has many possible origins but is most often associated with the sun god Lugh. The date of 1st August is linked to the ancient Celtic calendar tablet found at Coligny in France.

There was no kitchen in the Crannog, or at least not one that we would recognise today, but the Loch-dwellers managed with what they had producing fabulous down-to-earth nutritional food.

Our Iron age Gourmet day is one of our most popular events so don’t miss out on cookery demonstrations like you've never seen before: fish baked in clay stuffed with foraged herbs; fish smoked over an open fire; stews and soups using fresh local produce; breads, spreads and jams; locally-sourced spit-roast lamb, wild boar sausages to toast over an open fire and more.

Think we’re clever? We have electricity, wifi, air travel and supermarkets just to name a few - how do you think you would get on without them? 2,500 years ago the world was a very different place and we might think it was backward and dull but that is far from the truth! Join us and discover just how ingenious the ancient loch-dwellers were.

Part of Visit Scotland's Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design.

Booking essential for large groups otherwise just come along and be amazed at what you learn!