September 3rd sees The Stove’s fourth staging of Nithraid, a fun family event that takes place on and around the river. The daring sailing race, starting from the Solway Firth and sailing right up to the River Nith in the centre of Dumfries, is made possible by one of the highest tides of the year. While waiting for the boats to arrive, The Stove invites you to enjoy the ‘arts and food village’ at Mill Green, opposite the Whitesands, from 12 noon until 4pm.
Matt Baker, lead artist on Nithraid, says, “With all the difficulties over flooding this year it is great to be celebrating the positive side of our beautiful River Nith again and showing the huge potential the riverside areas have as public spaces for locals and visitors alike. There are some great new surprises for this year’s Nithraid, with the Salty Coo procession being designed and organised by young artists from the town and the Mill Green filled with local food producers and artists.”
Nithraid is a celebration of the town’s long relationship with its river, highlighting the way the Nith connected Dumfries to the rest of the world through trade, goods (including Coos) and sailpower. It is created and produced by The Stove Network and is part of the groups mission to make creative opportunities for local people to be involved in the future of Dumfries.
Visitors to Nithraid are invited to join in with art activities and demonstrations for all ages, listen to acoustic music, visit a mini market of local food producers, as well as watching the procession of the legendary Salty Coo, starting from Dumfries High Street to Mill Green, where the winning skipper has the honour of lowering the Coo and releasing her into the river.
Every year, The Stove offers the opportunity for young artists to join the team to reinvent the Salty Coo Procession, and put their own stamp on part of the town’s cultural calendar. This year Dillon Colthart and Jordan Chisholm are designing and creating a very special procession on the theme of ‘Acceptance’. Jordan and Dillon have both come up through the Electric Theatre Workshop in the town and are now studying for professional careers; Jordan in Glasgow and Dillon in London.
Jordan said, “It is great mark of how things are progressing in Dumfries that students like Dillon and I can gain invaluable professional experience like this, in our home town, to complement our studies at college – there are not many of our fellow students who are getting breaks like this!” The Salty Coo procession commission is made possible through a special sponsorship deal with The Peoples Project who generously support many community projects in the town.
For more information, including how to take part, please visit www.thestove.org/nithraid
