Festivals features

Festivals come in many shapes and sizes.  There are festivals which celebrate one artform, like music or literature, and those which involve lots of different kinds of arts and entertainment.  To find out more about festivals taking place throughout Scotland, as well as international festivals featuring Scottish artists, please click on the image or hyperlink.

Past featured festivals

Bows Art Bows Art present a mini-festival commemorating the centenary of the death of composer Edvard Grieg. November 2007.

Glasgay! 2007 A dash of sparkling celebrities, gothic drama, evocative music and visual arts - one of the coolest festivals of the year! 12 October - 11 November.

DANCE:FILM 07 Scotland's inaugural dance film festival, taking place from 29 October to 4 November 2007.

Storylab A new three week celebration of Scotland’s young storytelling and storymaking talent

Scottish International Storytelling Festival 07 Come and celebrate the ancient art of Storytelling

Dance Live! 07 A series of events and performances taking place in Aberdeen during October 2007.

Wigtown Book Festival 2007 Celebrate the written word at Scotland's Booktown, 28 September - 7 October.

Robert McLellan Festival a profile of the Robert McLellan Festival on the Isle of Arran

Summer festivals 2007 A look at the festivals to entertain you throughout Scotland during this (hopefully!) long, scorching-hot summer!

Imaginate Children's International Theatre Festival 2007 A look back at the UK's largest performing arts festival for children and young people.

Old Town Festival The Scottish Storytelling Centre's celebration of Edinburgh's historic Old Town. From 18 June to 1 July.

East Neuk Festival The East Neuk Festival took place in Fife from 27 June to 1 July.

Leith Festival 2007 A rich variety of music, drama, exibitions and much more.  From 1 - 10 June.

Le Weekend 2007 Join Scotland's trailblazing experimental music festival for it's tenth year! From 25 - 27 May.

Perth Festival of the Arts With a stunning array of talent including The Waterboys, the Magic Numbers, Bryn Terfel and Julian Clary.  From 16 - 27 May 2007.

Word 07 Aberdeen's annual festival, taking place from 11 - 13 May 2007.

Breakin' Convention The UK's first ever hip hop dance theatre festival comes to Edinburgh, 11 - 12 May.

Wigtown Spring Festival Escape to Scotland's National Book Town on 5 and 6 May 2007.

Tigerfest 2007 Taking place in Dunfermline and Edinburgh from 1 - 31 May 2007.

Ceilidh Culture 2007 Edinburgh's annual showcase of traditional arts, 24 March to 15 April 2007.

The Tolbooth and the Blend festival The home of the Blend Festival, Stirling's arts venue celebrates its fifth birthday this year.  The Blend festival runs from 15 - 18 March.

StAnza Poetry Festival 2007 Join StAnza's 10th birthday festivities! Running from 14 - 18 March 2007 in St Andrews.

South by Southwest 2007 A profile of the annual music and media conference in Austin, Texas.  Running from 9 - 18 March 2007.

Aberdeen Storytelling and Theatre Festival 2007 The biggest festival of its kind in Scotland running from 12 February until 28 March 2007.

Jazz from Sweden A profile of the festival featuring Swedish and Scottish jazz musicians, taking place at venues around Scotland from 8 February to 19 March 2007.

East Renfrewshire Storytelling Festival 2007 Find out more about the festival taking place from 6 February to 4 March 2007.

Aye Write! 2007 Glasgow's annual book festival - taking place from 16 - 25 February.

Dialogues 2007 A profile of the annual festival of live electronic music, held at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh on 16 to 17 February 2007.

North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance Malinky showcase at the Folk Alliance in Memphis, Tennessee in February 2007.

Showcase Scotland 2007 Showcase Scotland takes place during Celtic Connections in Glasgow from 24 to 28 January.

Winter Words Festival 2007 Taking place in Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 25 until 28 January

Festive Season 2006 and January 2007 highlights Browse through our festive season feature packed with highlights for Christmas, Hogmanay and January 2007.  We've also come up with top ideas to help you fill Santa's stocking.

Sound Festival 2006 The annual contemporary music festival takes place throughout Scotland's northeast in November.

Glasgay! 2006 Glasgay! celebrates it's 13th birthday with an exciting programme of film, theatre, dance and much more.  From 14 October to 12 November.

17th International Scottish Storytelling Festival 25 October until 5 November, including National Tell a Story Day

Wigtown Book Festival 2006  Wigtown's annual book festival, taking place this year from 22 September until 1 October

Arches Theatre The Arches 15th Anniversary - festival celebrations

Black Bottle Islay Jazz Festival A profile of the jazz festival which takes place on the west coast island in September

Blas Festival 2006 One of Scotland's newest music festivals takes place in the Highlands in September

Summer festivals 2006 Thousands of visitors flock to Scotland to enjoy world class festivals.  Read more about the Edinburgh Festivals, community festivals and other arts festivals across Scotland this summer.

West End Festival 2006 Don't miss Glasgow's biggest festival, celebrating it's 10th anniversary with Mardi Gras and over 350 events from classical music to theatre in Kelvingrove Park!  From 9 to 25 June.

St Magnus Festival Orkney's annual music festival takes place in June.

Theatre Festivals: children and young people Visit our Drama features page to read about theatre festivals and a focus on Visible Fictions - performing at the Children's International Theatre Festival this month.

Big Big Country Glasgow's annual festival of Americana takes place 16 to 27 May.

Perth Festival of the Arts 2006 The 35th Perth Festival features big names as well as a brand new concert hall!  From 18 to 28 May.

Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival 2006 Enjoy Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival with music, theatre, comedy, film, visual arts and literary events in venues across the region.  From 26 May to 3 June.

Le Weekend A profile of Stirling's annual experimental music and sound festival.  From 26 to 28 May.

Live Music Now! Scotland A profile of the UK's largest outreach music organisation and its work in Scotland.  From 26 to 28 May.

Word 06 Aberdeen's annual writers' festival, taking place from 12 to 14 May 2006.

	Puppet Animation Festival 2006 The festival returns with a jam-packed programme of events throughout Scotland.  From 13 March to 23 April.

Ceilidh Culture 2006 Edinburgh's annual showcase of traditional arts with the best of home-grown talent alongside acts from across the world.  From 1 to 22 April 2006.

Edinburgh International Harp Festival 2006 A profile of the 25th Edinburgh International Harp Festival running from 7 to 12 April 2006.

Triptych 2006 A profile of the festival reaching across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen from 26 to 30 April 2006.

Shetland Folk Festival 2006 A profile of the UK’s most northerly folk festival, now in its 26th year. Running from 27 to 30 April 2006.

StAnza Scotland's only dedicated poetry festival.  From 16 to 19 March 2006, in St Andrews, Fife.

The Blend A look at the annual roots music festival held in Stirling from 15 to 19 March 2006.

SXSW 2006 A profile of one of the largest international music industry networking and showcasing events in the world, held in Texas from 10 to 19 March 2006.

Aberdeen Jazz Festival 2006 A profile of the third annual festival of jazz in Scotland's northeast city.  From 8 to 12 March 2006.

New Territories 2006 New home, same outstanding talent!  From 8 February to 11 March 2006.

Kill Your Timid Notion (KYTN) 2006 A look at the annual experimental music and visuals festival in Dundee, running from 17 to 19 February 2006.

East Renfrewshire storytelling festival Now in it's second year, the 2006 festival ran from 30 January to 17 February.

Celtic Connections 2006 Kick off the 2006 festival calendar in style with performances by The Levellers, Steeleye Span and MBE recipient Eddi Reader, amongst others.  From 11 to 29 January 2006.

Winter Words 2006 Highland Perthshire's very own literature festival.  Featuring literary stars and celebrities including Elaine C. Smith, Christopher Brookmyre and Ian Rankin.  From 26 to 29 January 2006.

Festive Season 2005 Browse through our festive season feature packed with event highlights for Christmas, Hogmanay and January 2006.  More about Festive Season 2005

Carrick Festival of Light Light up your fifth of November with a visit to this spectacular event, taking place at the harbour and boating lake in Girvan, South Ayrshire.  Read on to find out more, including creating the River of Light.

Scottish International Storytelling Festival Read about the 2005 Storytelling Festival and National Tell a Story Day.

Glasgay! 2005 Scotland's annual celebration of queer culture is now underway in Glasgow.  Find out more about theatre at Glasgay! 2005 in our feature.  From 20 October to 20 November 2005.

GaelForce Festival 2005 A unique festival programme held in Dumfries and Galloway with over 250 individual festivals and events, GaelForce brings a storm of arts and entertainment across the region.  From 19 August to 30 October 2005.

Summer Festivals 2005 Read about the festivals in Edinburgh and across Scotland during the summer in 2005.

Wigtown Book Festival 2005 Read about Wigtown's 2005 book festival, which ran from between 23 September to 2 October.

Edinburgh MELA 2005 Now in its 11th year, the Edinburgh Mela is a vibrant festival for all the family.  Held at Edinburgh's Pilrig Park on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September 2005.

Degenerate 3 Theatre Workshop’s Degenerate Festival brings together leading disabled artists whose work and vision challenge outdated stereotypes and create a culture of excellence and diversity.  From 11 to 20 August 2005.

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2005 Read about the highly successful 2005 book festival, held in August.

	Dance Base Festival 2005 Programme A goody bag jam packed with exiting treats featuring some of Scotland’s top dance artists with work from Scottish Ballet’s Artistic Director Ashley Page, to Hip Hop fusion by Freshmess.  From 10 to 20 August 2005.

Promote YT's Festival of Youth Theatre 2005 In 2003, young people and youth drama workers were consulted about a National Festival at the Youth Theatre Seminar in Aberdeen.  Their ideas are brought to life between 14 and 17 July 2005.

Fèis an Eilein - the Skye Festival Based at the stunning Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in South Skye, the 14th Skye Festival offers music from Scotland and around the world, theatre, film, children's events plus a new book festival - Aos Dana.  From 12 to 23 July 2005.

Buckie Festival The 2005 Buckie Festival kicked off its third year mid-June, with seven days of top class entertainment in Moray, including ceilidh dancing, comedy, cabaret and children's theatre.

St Magnus Festival Orkney's mid-summer festival of the arts,  with a programme featuring music, drama, poetry, exhibition, film and community events.  From 17 to 22 June 2005.

West End Festival 2005 Glasgow's biggest festival, with over 400 events over two weeks.  With an extensive music programme, theatre, dance and the popular opening parade.  From 10 to 26 June 2005.

Intercity Festival 2005, Florence In 2005, the Intercity Festival set its sights on Edinburgh.  The festival saw eight new Scottish works translated and performed for European and international audiences.

North Glasgow International Festival In 2004, over 15,000 people came together for this one day festival and the 2005 festival, held in early June, looks set to repeat the success.

Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival For two weeks in May and June, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival brings performers of the highest quality to the region.  Find out more about the 2005 festival here.

Orkney Folk Festival The sweet strains of fiddles, accordions, voices and guitars marked the start of the summer when Orkney Folk Festival ran from 26 to 29 May 2005.

Imaginate Read about Imaginate, the children's arts development agency, responsible for creating and producing the Children's International Theatre Festival which takes place during May.

Perth Festival of the Arts During May 2005, Perth Festival presented its most ambitious programme to date with artists ranging from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to Teenage Fanclub and Paul Merton.

South by Southwest 2005 Read about the South by Southwest music convention in Texas, and the success of the Scottish bands who performed.

Word 05 Held in May 2005, the fifth Word Writers' Festival at the University of Aberdeen featured an impressive line-up of some of the finest writers from Scotland and beyond.

Glasgow International Festival The city's first curated and commissioning festival of contemporary visual art took place over twelve days in April and May 2005.

Big in Falkirk 2005 Scotland's national street arts festival returned on 30 April and 1 May 2005 with an assortment of spectacular outdoor theatre, international street arts and much more.

Dundee Jazz Festival The festival ran over a weekend, 29 April to 1 May 2005, and featured a host of international stars playing alongside some fantastic local talent.

Edinburgh International Harp Festival 2005 Find out more about the festival which took place in Merchiston Castle High School at the beginning of April.

Puppet Animation Festival A focus on the UK's oldest and largest performing arts event for children, held from 14 March to 20 April 2005.

Ceilidh Culture festival 2005 Edinburgh's annual showcase of traditional arts, which ran from 19 March until 17 April, displaying the best home-grown talent performing alongside international stars from all sectors of the traditional arts.

Aberdeen Jazz Festival Find out more about Aberdeen's second annual jazz festival held in March 2005, with a fantastic line up of international, national and local performers.

StAnza - Scotland's poetry festival Read about Scotland's only regular festival dedicated to poetry.

The Aberdeen Enchanted Storytelling and Theatre Festival Find out more about the festival, which ran for six weeks in February and March 2005.

new territories 2005 Scotland's international festival of live arts, held in February and March 2005.

Dialogues  Read a profile of the festival in Edinburgh which celebrates new music and new media.

Aye Write! - Glasgow's first major book festival Read about Glasgow's first ever major book festival, held in February 2005.

Glasgay! Find out more about Scotland's annual festival of queer culture.

Kill Your Timid Notion  Read a profile of the contemporary music festival held in Dundee during December.

Edinburgh International Book Festival Have a look at the 21st birthday celebrations of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

St Magnus Festival 2004 Read about Orkney's highly regarded midsummer celebration of the arts.

Hebridean Celtic Festival Find out more about the international music festival, based in Stornoway, which was voted 'Event of the Year' at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2004.