Step into the 1740s at Highland Folk Museum’s Outlander Day

An Outlander Day is taking place this Saturday at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore celebrating the hit TV show.

The annual event provides a programme of talks, tours, special demonstrations, traditional skills, and a living history, in connection with the hugely popular drama 'Outlander'.

After the huge global following the series received, museum bosses said they had fans of the show visiting to see some of the filming locations used to bring the books penned by Diana Gabaldon to the screen.

The Newtonmore attraction first started holding their 'Outlander Day' in 2015 in collaboration with the Inverness Outlander Group to meet the clamour for more Outlander-centred activities.

There will be a variety of things taking place this year including a costume competition, re-enactments and a visit from author Maggie Craig.

Joann Hopkins, associate operations manager for museum operators High Life Highland, said: “Similar to last year, visitors will be able to wander through the Highland Folk Museum while re-enactments of what life would have been like in the 1700s take place by ‘inhabitants’ of the township around them including weaving, spinning, dyeing, pole-lathing, and more.

“Grantown Museum will also be present on the day so that visitors can dress up and have their photograph taken in period costume for the authentic 18th Century township experience.

"As ever, members of the public are also invited to join in on our friendly costume competition.

“We are pleased to be welcoming back Maggie Craig, author of several historical novels set in Scotland, who will be sharing the story of ‘The Scottish Jacobite Doctor who became an American Hero’ and staying for book signing opportunities.

“Our popular ‘waulking group’, Comhlan Luadh Bhàideanach, will also be there – and have recently gone viral on social media thanks to a repost from Diana Gabaldon herself!

"These viral videos are viewable on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

“Last year, we had hundreds of visitors for Outlander Day, and we expect it to be just as busy this year.

“We ask visitors to please be mindful of car parking availability throughout the day, so that everyone has the chance to experience this special event.”

HLH chief executive Steve Walsh said: “Highland Folk Museum’s ‘Outlander Day’ will no doubt be a busy and successful event that celebrates Scottish culture and history.

“High Life Highland is proud to be collaborating with Inverness Outlander Group to make an event like this possible, which attracts audiences from around the globe to visit and participate.

"I hope everyone attending has a fantastic time.”

There is no entry fee for Outlander Day which runs from 11am to 4pm or to visit the museum itself but donations are encouraged.

Donations are grateful received and will be used towards helping to improve the experience of at the attraction.

Outlander begins around the time of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and follows the plight of Claire Randall, a nurse who is mysteriously swept back in time from 1946 to 1743.

Seemingly stuck in the past, she meets the handsome Highlander Jamie Fraser.

The HFM was Britain’s first open-air museum and has more than 35 historical buildings on-site which offer a view into life in the Highlands — some looking as far back as the 1700s.

More on author Maggie Craig

There will be a Q&A and book signing by Craig on her publication 'The Scottish Jacobite Doctor who Survived Culloden and became an American Hero'

The event will take place at the township as part of Outlander Day from noon.

Craig is also the author of the acclaimed 'Damn’ Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45'; 'Bare-arsed Banditti: The Men of the ’45', 'Gathering Storm', 'Dance to the Storm' and several other novels and works of non-fiction.

She has served two terms on the committee of the Society of Authors in Scotland and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

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