The Feast of Tabernacles - Stirling, Scotland 2010

Hotels normally have parking for their guests, but you can email your hotel or check on their website.

There is no large single car park for the Hall but plenty of on street parking, especially down side streets. If you are staying at one of the nearby hotels it would probably be easier for you to leave your car in the hotel car park and walk. There are a few parking spots for those with special needs. Please email feast2010@ucg.org.uk if you qualify for this or apply at the registration desk for available places outside the Albert Halls.

If I am flying in to Manchester Airport what options do I have to get to Stirling?

Hiring a car can be economic if you have the time. The distance is 240 miles from Manchester. For trains from Manchester you can see the train schedules and prices at www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.thetrainline.com. There are trains to Stirling that typically take between 4 1/2 to 5 hours with two changes as well as one or two with only one change at Edinburgh. Alternatively, one of the budget airlines, BMI, flies from Manchester to Edinburgh. You will then be able to decide whether hiring a car at the airport would be cheaper for you. Airlines sometimes partner with car hire companies to offer better prices if you book your car at the time of booking your flight.

The nearest airport to Stirling is Edinburgh, 31 miles from Stirling. The following international airlines fly direct to Edinburgh:
a. from the USA at present Delta (from Atlanta and JFK-NY), Continental (Newark-NY).
b. from UK and European cities several budget airlines including Easyjet, BMI and Ryanair.

A number of web sites will give you these details. Try the Maps option of www.google.co.uk for distances or the Automobile Association's for both distances and traffic/driving conditions. If you are hiring a car, see how much an optional SatNav (GPS) would be to have in your car. Most are detachable, so please remove them if you leave your car parked. Also see Getting Around.

How do we travel from Edinburgh Airport to Stirling?

We are awaiting details from Feast-goers after sending out emails to find out arrival times and flights. If we are able to arrange something at a reasonable cost to you that will serve a lot of people, we will put it on this festival information site as soon as possible.

At present it would be best to plan to (1) take the easiest route - a taxi, or (2) take the airport bus to the train station in Edinburgh and then a train to Stirling.

A taxi will take around 45 minutes and might cost about £65 (for an airport taxi) or £50 (for a pre-booked Stirling taxi). Before taking a taxi, be sure to agree on the price with the driver. Sometimes there are additional charges per bag.

(We have a member living near Stirling who may be able to arrange a taxi at a more reasonable price. Please let us know if you need his details. You would then deal directly with him.)

Alternatively, the public transport route is to take the airport bus to Edinburgh Waverley Station, and then to take the train to Stirling. Trains to Stirling run roughly every hour. The whole journey will take around 2.5 hours, and will cost approximately £11.

You can check the following two web sites - www.flybybus.com (for a bus to Edinburgh) and www.firstgroup.com/scotrail (for a train to Stirling). Busses from stand 19 at the airport, to the city centre, leave every ten minutes and take 25 minutes to get to Edinburgh.

Trains from Waverly Station, or from the Haymarket station if you get off before the city centre, take about an hour. If you are able to catch the 1pm train you will be in Stirling shortly before 2pm.

For some reason the web site does not accept my registration funds. As you have difficulty with handling US$ checks what else can I do?

We have a direct and secure online payment system into our bank account with HSBC. Click here to access it for payment by credit card.

There is also a temporary web page at www.ucg.org.uk/donate.html. This has direct links to our accounts on the secure web sites Charity-Choice and Paypal, where you can choose to send funds using several types of credit card. Please remember there are extra precautions with credit card security, so when making your payment (1) the address given must be the same as where your credit card account is sent to you, and (2) the name must be as printed on the card.

If you choose Paypal, you need a Paypal account yourself. It is easy to create one on the same page. In the final section after entering your details there is a box for describing the funds, add "Feast 2010 Registration" as a description.

The sites should send you an email if the transaction is successful - providing you entered your email address accurately. If you also let us know and we will check that the funds then come through safely to the Feast account.

Wearing a kilt at the Feast:

Do any of the members in the UK wear kilts during he Feast?

As the kilt is formal attire it would be acceptable to wear it on special occasions. Holy Days and Sabbaths in particular, and some of the social events would be appropriate, but the decision is yours!

The badges will be available from the Registration Desk at the Albert Halls from 12pm on Wednesday 22nd September, along with your Stirling Festival Brochure.

What do I do if I bring a guest to services at the Albert Halls? Do they need to register for a security/attendance badge?

We will all need to wear a security/attendance badge in the Albert Halls, so if you have a guest come to the registration desk and ask for a guest badge. This will need to be returned after the service unless your friend will be attending regularly with you.

I have a spare room in the rented house we have paid for. I've heard there are some who are unable to afford accommodation, so is there anyone who would like to use it free of charge?

Your help would be much appreciated! We have a few who have recently started attending Church and would love to be with us in Stirling. Please email feast2010@ucg.org.uk with the details of what you have available and your preference (if any) as to who the place would best fit (single, young adult, male or female, etc.) We will put you in touch with whoever may need accommodation.

We have two seats in our car and could give a lift to one or two people to services. How do I see if there is someone who we could offer a lift to?

If you have transport to the Albert Halls and some space in the vehicle to help others, please also let us know! You can email feast2010@ucg.org.uk with the details of where you are staying and how many you could bring with you. You could also provide a notice for people to read at the Hall once you arrive. (Anyone needing a lift could email us too and we will see if we can put you in touch with a lift offer.)

Using your credit/debit cards - Chip and Pin system in UK

Please note that when using your credit/debit card in the UK, most card readers are configured for "chip & pin" - this means you need to know the pin numbers of your cards, as the machines will ask you to enter your pin for payments to be authorised. If cards are not of the chip & pin type, you will be asked to sign the slip in the traditional way.

Ordering food in pub restaurants

Traditional restaurants have staff who come to your table to take your order, but many pub-style restaurants have a food ordering point. In these restaurants, the procedure would be to find an empty table, select what you'd like from the menu on the table (or the specials board) and then go to the food ordering point to place your order. The food will be brought to your table.