New stage for festival Scotland’s largest rural performing arts festival is moving into a new phase of delivering its exciting region-wide programme to Dumfries and Galloway audiences.
And, in a bid to encourage greater involvement with new and existing partners, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival will provide funding support to venues, organisations and performers in its brand new guarantee against loss scheme.
In a well-attended meeting in Castle Douglas Town Hall on Wednesday evening, the festival delivered the message of the new phase to partners and interested parties. Programme director, Peter Renwick, and festival chair, Ken Gouge, explained an innovative three-tier structure for next year’s festival programme. “The festival content has always been curated centrally but this year we are aiming to turn that on its head and allow our partners greater control over collaborative festival events,” said Ken.
“We aim to focus the main festival events within reach of the largest number of people across a wider geographical area and, at the same time, encourage greater involvement of a broader range of venues and organisations.”
Next year’s festival will, therefore, have a three-phase structure:
• Solway Junctions: This will focus the core festival around Annan, Dumfries, Castle Douglas and Stranraer. This will enable the festival to concentrate its resources on
producing fewer higher quality events around the region’s population centres while keeping a region-wide presence and, at the same time, supporting a rural programme.
• Roots Through Dumfries and Galloway: This section will enable venues, performing artists and arts organisations to have a greater involvement in the festival by mounting their own events that the festival will support financially by guaranteeing against losses of between £500 and £1,500.
• The Festival Fringe: The Fringe will be open to all and events will be listed in the festival programme.
Since 1979, the festival has brought top quality performances, such as world-class opera, The National Theatre of Scotland and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, to the region’s communities for 10 days at the end of May.
This year the festival worked with 61 small businesses, organisations and community groups and saw 68 performances involving 148 artists in 41 venues across Dumfries and Galloway. groups. Building on this success, the new programme will see the core festival focusing on the same high profile events, reaching more people over a wider geographical spread and increasing capacity for the promotion of the performing arts across the region.
It also aims to encourage greater involvement in the festival from a wider range of venues and artists festival programme director, Peter Renwick, said: “Fundamentally, we are looking to enhance the relationship with many venues across the region and offer them control over the events they put on.
“The idea of a guarantee against loss scheme allows venues to take greater control of their events by deciding what they would like to host and being able to do so with support from the festival which will act as a financial buffer.
“Such events will benefit from full inclusion in the 2015 programme and our publicity campaign.”
Last year’s Festival Fringe was a resounding success and the festival aims to expand on this next year. “For 2015 we are opening out the Fringe programme even further to anyone who is looking to promote a live arts event during the Festival period.” Peter explained.
“We recognise that there are many people out there in the region promoting great events independently. Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival will support them by including their events in our brochure, through our social media sites and in our publicity.”
Next year’s festival takes place between May 22 to 31.
Venues and performers who wish to take advantage of the Roots through Dumfries and Galloway programme or who require further information and a list of criteria are asked to download an application form from www.dgartsfestival.org.uk or request one from the festival office by phoning 01387 259627. Application deadlines are on November 10 and a panel decision will be made by November 17.
