Inverness's revamped museum and art gallery opens on 13 January

From the reopening of a revamped museum to a mountain bike championship, the list includes some events with eye-catching titles.

People will be invited to get closer to trees and buy tickets for events inspired by pop star Michael Jackson's Thriller music video and a zombie film.

And for wildlife enthusiasts, there is the talk Bring Back the Beaver!

The lead-up to the Year of Culture has seen a busy period of construction and planning work.

The revamped Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, the new �8m Culloden Battlefield Memorial Centre and the refurbished Eden Court Theatre are all expected to open during the year.

Here is a round-up of some of the main attractions.

One of the major events branded with the Highland 2007 tag is the Blas Festival, which was first held in 2005.

Last year saw performances by artists such as Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, winner of the BBC Horizon award, and Radio 2 Musician of the Year Michael McGoldrick.

This year's celebration of Highland music and Gaelic will be held from 31 August to 8 September.

Last summer, a musical described as a cross between Thriller and zombie horror spoof Shaun of the Dead won the Highland Quest.

The competition was launched by theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness and the Scottish Executive.

The winning entry was The Sundowe by Edinburgh-based brothers John, James and Gerry Kielty.

It will premiere at the redeveloped Eden Court later this year.

The contest attracted more than 140 entries from around the world.

Festivities will take to the sea from 23 June to 1 July when a fleet of traditional boats will sail from Wick.

They will head along the Caithness and Moray coasts to Portsoy for the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.

A two-day event called the TouchWood Festival is planned to encourage a greater appreciation of the region's trees, woods, forests and the environment.

It is also proposed to involve local schools.

The World Championship Highland Games this summer will see the world's 12 best heavy athletes compete for honours in Inverness.

Organisers boast that it will be the biggest games to staged in the Highlands and will include junior and senior athletics, a pipe band competition and traditional music.

This three-day event in March will be held in the Aros Centre on the Isle of Skye.

It aims to celebrate and promote the cultures and languages - including Gaelic - of Celtic countries and regions.

Highlands Astronomical Society hopes to showcase an upgraded observatory with a new telescope at its site a few miles outside of Inverness.

The society said that the location still ranked as one of the best spots near the Highland capital to observe the Milky Way and planets.

Fort William is preparing to stage the biggest mountain bike event on the sport's international calendar.

Thousands of people are expected to flock to the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships from 3 to 9 September.

The Lochaber town has been the venue for world cup events since 2002.

The mix of talks and exhibitions will include Dr Kevin Jones' lecture Bring Back the Beaver!

It has been organised by Inverness Field Club and will be held in Millburn Academy, Inverness, on 17 January.

Dr Jones is from University of Stirling's School of Biological and Environmental Sciences.