What to do this week: from Festival of Flight to Braemar Gathering

Aerophiles assemble! Some stunning examples of aircraft design will take to the skies on the west coast in a few days. Military enthusiasts will get a kick out of the Typhoon Display Team, as well as the Royal Navy Black Cats’ Wildcat helicopters display. Three planes from the Navy Wings Collection — the Westland Wasp, Stinson Reliant and Harvard — will be showing off how nippy they are too. The Jet Pitts aerobatic display aircraft is also pretty impressive, particularly when its pilot Richard Goodwin pulls the biplane into a vertical hold and it keeps spinning thanks to the rotating propeller. Look out too for the RAF Falcons parachute display team, falling at speeds of up to 120mph.Details Sep 6-7, Ayr Low Green, destinationsouthayrshire.co.uk/ayrshow
Ever wondered what tomatoes grown with rock dust from Mount Hekla’s eruption taste like? Or if Marvel-style superhumans could ever exist in real life? It’s all covered at Orkney’s week-long annual festival, which as you might expect, given its location, hosts a fair few talks and workshops exploring energy sources of the past and future. Also on the menu will be a range of practical topics such as the natural larder of the area, the surrounding waterscapes, and what’s going on in the sky, under the sea and below the ground — as well as the role of forensic evidence in criminal investigations.Details Sep 5-11, various venues, Orkney, oisf.org
The fast-talking writer of Blackadder, Upstart Crow, various novels and a bunch of musicals is back with his first UK stand-up show since 2019. In Authentic Stupidity, Elton will talk about the silly ways we run our lives, from being scared of wine waiters and falling in and out of love, to letting the planet burn rather than giving up on things we deem necessary. Interestingly, he won’t be talking much about artificial intelligence because he wants these shows to be fun and finds that all a bit depressing.Details Sep 3, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Sep 4, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow; Sep 5, Music Hall, Aberdeen, benelton.live
One of the biggest events in the Highland games calendar, this Cairngorms event is often attended by the monarch. If he comes this year, King Charles will get a chance to enjoy the usual feats of strength, musicality, dancing and speed. As always, muscular, bekilted folk will test their strength in the “heavy events” — the throwing of hammers, putting the stone and tossing the caber — and teams will compete in tug of war. Pipe bands and solo piping complement the Highland dancing, and runners will race on tracks and up hills.Details Sep 7, Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park, Braemar, braemargathering.org
Nibbling tasty snacks and sipping interesting new flavours is always more appealing by the water’s edge. Head for the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond next week if you’d like to get involved in the Shake it Till You Make It cocktail and mocktail masterclasses, run by the team from Saint Judes in Glasgow. Rohan Wadke (from Rohan’s Kitchen in Edinburgh and Glasgow) and Niall Murray (a chef lecturer at City of Glasgow College) both host free cooking demonstrations, and the Wild Food and Medicine Walks will be conducted by the forager and herb expert Rox Madeira. There is plenty for children to do too, with rides, stilt walkers, boat trips and the Treezone area for climbers. Details Sep 7-8, Loch Lomond Shores, West Dunbartonshire, lochlomondfoodanddrinkfestival.co.uk
The hip-hop alter-ego of former 30 Rock writer and Atlanta star Donald Glover will be in Scotland for one night only as part of his world tour.Details Nov 28, OVO Hydro, Glasgow, aegpresents.co.uk