Celebrating 900 years of The Royal Burgh of Stirling
Founded by King David I in 1124, the Royal Burgh of Stirling is one of the oldest burghs in Scotland. 2024 marked the 900th anniversary. Over 100 local businesses, groups and organisations worked together to transform the landmark anniversary into a spectacular, year-long celebration (2024/25) – alive with culture, citizen science, world-class events and community spirit.
Take a look back at the wonderful year of celebration!
A little bit of History
Stirling was one of the first Royal Burghs created in Scotland meaning King David I granted his Burgesses or Freemen privileges: to hold their land and property directly from him, to elect a Council, to hold markets, to levy local taxes and many more. This allowed Stirling to prosper and created a special connection between the King and his subjects.
It is believed that King David I pronounced Stirling as a Burgh by giving verbal instruction and therefore no written charter exists for the original granting of burgh status. The earliest charter that Stirling Archives have which mentions the burgh status is from 1360 issued by David II (1329-1371). The charter references an earlier charter of King Alexander II from 1226 granting the Burgesses of Stirling the right to hold a weekly market. You can find more information in the blog about The Origins of the Royal Burgh and the Special Relationship with the Crown.
King Alexander I and the Beginning of Stirling Castle
The first time Stirling Castle appears in a historical record is in reference to King Alexander I in a document outlining an agreement regarding the parish church of Eccles and the Chapel of Stirling Castle. To learn about Stirling Castle watch the presentation below.
Video: King Alexander I and the Beginning of Stirling Castle
Happy 900th Birthday, Stirling!
Launch of the 900th Year
The 900th anniversary celebrations officially began on 26th April 2024. The day started with ceremonial opening of the gates at Stirling Castle at 9am. At 10am, the bells of the Church of the Holy Rude rang for an hour. The festivities continued at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum at 1:30pm where a community launch event was held.
Walking of the Marches
Walking of the Marches 2024
Walking of the Marches is an ancient tradition in Stirling that checks the burgh boundaries to ensure they are intact and to mark them. The oldest mention of the tradition is from a Burgh record from 1611 however, earlier Charters also talk about the walk dating as back as the 12 century. The walk was done every year and attended by some of the most important and influential people in the Burgh.
History of Walking of the Marches
Stirling Summer Sessions
Stirling Summer Sessions spread over six days from Thursday, 27 June to Tuesday, 2 July. Stars including, Tom Jones, Shania Twain, James Artur, Busted and Loreen attracted fans from all over boosting visitors numbers to Stirling by 50%.
Stirling 900 Family Trail
Stirling City Centre Family Heritage Trail
Stirling City Heritage Trust has worked with local artist David Galletly to create an illustrated Family Heritage Trail for Stirling City Centre. Follow the trail to learn all about the history of the city and meet some interesting characters, including an unlucky child who has been locked up in the stocks and Scotland’s national animal! Answer some questions along the way so that you can complete a codebreaker word scramble.
- The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum
- VisitScotland Stirling iCentre
- Stirling Old Town Jail
- Cowane’s Hospital
- Tolbooth Stirling
- The Albert Halls
- Stirling Central Library
Heart of Scotland: History and Heritage of Stirling at 900 Year 
The University of Stirling partnered with FutureLearn to deliver a course on the history of Stirling from medieval to modern times. The course was successfully launched back in June. Over 450 people enrolled in the course and it was the top of the FutureLearn History category. The syllabus will cover important events such as the Wars of Independence, The Reformation and Mary, Queen of Scots, Witchcraft and King James VI and I, Victorian Stirling and 20th Century to Present Day.
George Buchanan Creative Writing Prize 2024
The annual George Buchanan Creative Writing Competition was held under the theme: Stirling/Home. The competition is organised by the University of Stirling in partnership with Stirling District Tourism & University of Stirling Faculty of Arts & Humanities. Entries were judged by a panel of staff from Literature and Languages.
Winner:
Reconsidering Home by Comfort Kehinder Egbanubi
Highly Commended Entries:
Stirling Graveyard by James Howard
Forth Valley Food and Drink Festival
The Forth Valley Food and Drink Festival took place on 24th August in Stirling featuring over 50 businesses. A series of short documentaries were created as part of the festival to unveil the lesser-known stories of Stirling’s rich food and drink heritage!
Episode 1: Fit for a King of Queen
Episode 2: Nature’s Bounty
Episode 3: Market Town
Episode 4: Digging Up The Past
Stirling 900 September Evets
In September 2024 the city turned into a festival ground for many festivals including Stirling Photography Festival (running all of September), Bloody Scotland – Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival (13th-15th September), Gravelfoyle (14th-15th September), the first ever Stirling Pride (21st September) and Stirling’s Doors Open Days (21st – 22md September). This marked the end of the summer of events.
Stirling 900 Autumn Events
The festival season continued into autumn with more events and festivals including: Callander Jazz and Blues (3rd-6th October), Stirling Symphonic Laser Spectacular at the Church of the Holy Rude (5th October), Stirling Science Festival (17th-19th October), Scottish Album of the Year Award (24th October), SpiritFEST (25th October – 3rd November).
Stirling 900 Finale
28th-29th March 2025
Stirling 900: Culture Night at Stirling Castle
Friday 28th of March 2025, 6pm-8pm
A pop-up celebration of Stirling’s vast Cultural offering, as part of Stirling’s 900 Finale Weekend.
On Friday 28th March, a spectacular free cultural celebration was held at the iconic Stirling Castle. As part of Stirling’s 900 Finale Weekend, the special evening showcased the incredible artistic and cultural talent our community has to offer.
Stirling Castle came alive with activity, transforming every corner – indoors and outdoors – into a hub of creativity and inspiration. There were two music stages at the Great Hall and the Chapel with a huge cast of creative organisations from across the area.
Photos from Culture Night at Stirling Castle 2025
Stirling 900 Concert at Stirling Castle
Friday 28th of March 2025, 8pm-9pm
A NEW COMPOSITION, by Evie Waddell and Neil Sutcliffe
As we marked Stirling’s 900th anniversary year, and came together to celebrate stories of old and 900 Years of history, Evie and Neil came together to create a new composition, one which tells a new story of Stirling. Taking inspiration from the culture of this place, and in response to its past, reflecting on its community of today, and their hopes for the future.
As musicians who are part of our community, we celebrated their unique voices when their new composition was played for the first time, as part of the official finale week of the 900th Year celebrations.
They were also accompanied by Stirling Youth Folk Club, Kevin McLean and Laser Monkey.
The composition was funded by Youth Music Initiative and supported by Tolbooth Stirling.
You can listen to the song in the video.
Stirling 900 Parade
Saturday 29th of March, 2025
We rounded off our celebratory year of 900th Anniversary events with the Stirling 900 parade on Saturday 29th of March, 2025. The parade stepped off from the Stirling Castle Esplanade at 12pm, weaving through the city centre, over Stirling Bridge and out to the Rugby Club.
Stirling 900th Parade Participants Finale Photo
