This year visitors to the 37th Festival Interceltique in Lorient, Brittany, which attracts more than 700,000 visitors from around the world, will see examples of Scottish music, film, photography, golf, whisky, cuisine and fashion showcased in a Scottish Pavilion.

The festival, which has received £286,000 from the Scottish Executive and is also being supported by VisitScotland, will run from 3 to 12 August.

Ahead of her visit to the Festival in August, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture Linda Fabiani said: "I am thrilled to support The Year of Scotland at Lorient 2007 - it is a wonderful celebration of our thriving cultural scene.

"Scotland has strong links with Brittany - we are proud of our ancient and common Celtic heritage, which continues to flourish and provide entertainment and enjoyment to many.

"I look forward to visiting the Festival this summer to strengthen and deepen our Celtic bonds still further. This year's programme is a reflection of Scotland's rich cultural identity and I hope it will encourage people to come and experience Scotland for themselves."

Philip Riddle, chief executive, VisitScotland, said: "This is a great opportunity to demonstrate Scotland's fantastic cultural heritage to hundreds of thousands of potential visitors in one of our key international markets and complements our existing European marketing and PR campaigns. French visitors spend more than £40 million in Scotland annually.

"Scotland's known around the world as a nation of music and dance lovers and the great thing about Scottish country dancing is that anyone can have a go.

"The new dance will demonstrate this to around 700,000 music lovers at the Interceltique Festival and get them hot stepping it to Scotland to try it out for themselves."