World Potato Congress 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Edinburgh Convention Bureau has announced that the 8th World Potato Congress will be staged in Edinburgh in 2012.

At least 600 potato specialists from around the world will attend the event 417 years after Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan explorer, introduced the vegetable to England.

Since then potato harvesting has grown into a major global industry with more than 325 million tonnes a year being produced.

The three-day World Potato Congress will be staged at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) in June 2012 and is one of twenty new events won for the city with the assistance of the Edinburgh Convention Bureau.