Organisers have drawn on elements of traditional and contemporary culture to provide a fitting celebration of the first parliament in Scotland for nearly 300 years.

Headline events include a huge bonfire, a rock concert by top band Garbage, a night of opera and a children's procession, all of which are designed to create an unforgettable occasion.

Sunset ceremony

On the eve of the opening, First Minister Donald Dewar has been invited to light a beacon on Salisbury Crags as the sun sets.

A beacon will also be lit on Edinburgh Castle ramparts, and hundreds of people are expected to gather around a huge bonfire on Calton Hill.

An Edinburgh salsa experience

Rock band Salsa Celtica - which fuses South American rhythms with Scottish folk music - will entertain people at the fire which will glow until first light.

On the morning of 1 July, members of the public will be entertained by the Edinburgh Samba School, Black Watch Pipe Band and West Lothian Schools Brass Band as they await the official procession to the Assembly Hall on the Mound.

After the official opening, 1,600 children from all over Scotland will parade with pipes, drums and brass bands from the Royal Mile to West Princes Street Gardens for what organisers have called a Picnic in the Park.

Memorable day

Other cultural events - expressing both the modern and the traditional - have been arranged to mark this most memorable of days.

The visual arts of Scotland will be celebrated in several locations, including more than 250 works of art from civic and academic collections are brought together for the first time in the City Art Centre in Market Street.

The Museum of Scotland and the Scottish national Portrait Gallery will also feature special exhibitions.

Garbage singer Shirley Manson

A number of outdoor events have been organised by Unique Events Ltd for the evening of the opening.

A one-off open-air concert headlined by rock band Garbage will be held in the west side of the gardens below Edinburgh Castle.

It will be the first performance in Edinburgh for the band, whose lead singer Shirley Manson is Scottish.

In contrast, members of the public can enjoy the sounds of opera with a spectacular open-air feast of classical music featuring soloists from Scottish Opera and musicians from Scotland's national orchestras in the east end of the Princess Street Gardens.

Outdoor finale

A spectacular finale to outdoor proceedings will be provided by street theatre group Transe Express from Marseilles, whose interactive show Drumming Up the Nation will be supported by 50 musicians from the Edinburgh Samba School.

Unique Events director Peter Irvine said putting together the programme of events had been far from easy.

"It has been a great challenge to create a programme which meets with people's expectations, involves people of all ages and includes contributions from the huge diversity of traditional and contemporary Scottish culture," he said.

"We believe we have done so and we hope the events and individual moments of them will remain in people's memories for years to come," he added.

In parts of Edinburgh where the festivities are taking place, roads may be subject to closure and diversions put in place.