Smokie hot action and goosebumps: a car-free trip to Arbroath

From atmospheric outdoor theatre and historic houses to sumptuous seafood and dramatic clifftop walks, Scotland’s east coast gets the pulse racing

Lanterns pick out a path through the dark marram grass. The constellations are clear above crescent-shaped Lunan Bay and the trees are floodlit. One sandy hollow in the dunes, a natural amphitheatre, is studded with flickering fires. Xylophone players pick out bone-dancing music and a soundtrack of unearthly growls and crashing waves resolves into choral singing. This is Over Lunan, an outdoor theatrical event on the east coast of Scotland.