From 18th – 27th October, Dumfries & Galloway’s annual Wild Goose Festival will host a series of events stretching across the region from Dumfries, and the surrounding areas, through Galloway and into Stranraer.
In a celebration of nature, creativity and place, this year’s programme of activity includes exhibitions, guided walks, tours, creative workshops, performances, film screenings, lectures, and opportunities to see our local and visiting wildlife up close in their natural habitats.
This ten-day festival forms part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2024 and is supported by TRACS – Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Dumfries & Galloway Council, Annandale & Nithsdale Community Benefit Company, administered by Foundation Scotland and Dumfries & Galloway Museums & Heritage Network. Alongside the main festival activities which can be viewed at the festival’s dedicated website:
www.wildgoosefestival.scot, the 2024 festival will be further supported by an immersive Wild Goose Festival Hub, hosted in the Loreburne Centre on the High Street of Dumfries.
This interactive space will utilise a former retail unit in the heart of the town, to offer a special engagement programme. Wild Goose Festival connects the region to other locations across the globe, from Norway to Iceland and Svalbard to Greenland. The festival uses the power of partnership to shine a light on Dumfries & Galloway, the unique natural
resources found here, its abundance of native and visiting wildlife and the connection these have to the places and people who live here.
Gail Macgregor, the Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council said,
“The Wild Goose Festival beautifully promotes our region’s stunning environment, landscape and wildlife. The Stove Network and its festival partners have put together an inspiring and thought-provoking programme. The Council welcomes this Festival’s development and its potential to inspire local people and visitors to enjoy our countryside
and learn more about our wildlife and their habitats.”Judith Hewitt, Museum Curator at Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service, comments:
“Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service has been part of the Wild Goose Festival for three years now. It has been an absolute pleasure to be involved as it is a truly collaborative experience and enables us to work with many different organisations, with different approaches within our region. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that it continues well into the future and that its themes of Nature, Creativity and Place continue to be cherished and celebrated within our museums.”Marianne Nicholson, Engagement Officer at WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre, adds:
“We are excited to be involved with the festival again this year. It is a lovely celebration of all things migration and that is what WWT Caerlaverock does best! As an organisation, we have been involved in the festival since the beginning and seeing it get better and better over the years has been fantastic. We can’t wait to share our wetlands with Wild Goose Festival attendees!”
This year’s key festival partners include; The Stove Network, BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), Cycling Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service (East), ECO LG, Fair Scotland, Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, LiftD&G, Loch Ken Trust, MOOL (Massive Outpouring Of Love), NatureScot (SNH), PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society), RSPB, Solway Firth Partnership, Species on the Edge, WWT Caerlaverock.
This year’s festival programme is now live and can be viewed online at wildgoosefestival.scot and printed event guides can be picked up at The Stove Cafe on Dumfries High Street or participating partner sites.
