Celebration of Scottish fare

Three festivals this autumn will highlight the best of Scottish food and drink.

First in the diary is the Talisker Skye and Lochalsh Food and Drink Festival, which runs for the third time this year, 20-23 September, and promises the opportunity to sample local seafood, heather-reared hill lamb, wild mushrooms and organically produced salad leaves and herbs.

Highlights of the weekend festival include a Highland banquet, the Talisker Classic Malts dinner and a pilot farmers' market. The event's main sponsor is Talisker Distillery. More information is available on 01478 612841.

A week later, the focus turns to East Lothian and its Celebration of Food and Drink. Like the event on Skye, it will promote the region's producers, with local chefs preparing tastings at the Haddington Farmers' Market, and hotels and restaurants in the region offering special menus using local produce. Phone 0131-473 3623 for further details.

It's back up north for the Highland Food and Drink Festival 2001 in early October, centred on Inverness and its environs.

Tastings, cookery demonstrations, special menus in local restaurants and the Inverness Farmers' Market will run throughout the four-day event, sponsored by Tennent Caledonian Breweries, which runs 3-7 October. More details are available by contacting 01479 812555.