Nairn Book and Arts Festival has revealed its full programme for this year’s event ranging from top authors to street art.
Running from September 4 – 12, Nairn Book and Arts Festival will offer a hybrid programme of events and activities, including a range of live and online talks, live music, outdoor performances, spoken word, art installations, pop-up shops, creative workshops and more.
Locals and visitors alike can also look forward to a special appearance by 10m tall mechanical puppet, STORM, at Nairn Links.
More than 20 critically-acclaimed and award-winning authors from across Scotland and the UK are scheduled to appear at this year’s festival, including Sarah Moss (Summerwater), Cal Flyn (Islands of Abandonment) and David Barrie (Incredible Journeys).
Authors, musicians and creatives to take part
Cairngorms‘ writer in residence Merryn Glover and wild swimming enthusiasts – photographer Anna Deacon and author Vicky Allan – will also make an appearance.
Alexander Stoddart, Sculptor in Ordinary to her Majesty the Queen in Scotland, will deliver a lunchtime lecture at Nairn Community and Arts Centre too.
The festival will showcase live music from folk musician, songwriter and storyteller Iona Lane, and will feature a premiere of new material from multi-instrumentalist folk duo Mike Vass and Innes Watson.
Oceanallover will deliver a visual poetry performance and music event involving dancers, musicians, and sculptural costumes when they go on a special walkabout through the streets of Nairn.
The festival will also see a stunning installation of 500 naturally-dyed silk flags on Nairn’s East Beach by international outdoor arts company Kinetika, created by communities along the east coast of the UK as part of its Beach of Dreams project.
Festival opening and closing highlights
The festival will open with an environmentally-themed creative takeover of Nairn High Street on Saturday, September 4, featuring live music, spoken word, dance performances, art in shop windows and a special collaborative mural created by Nairn Academy pupils.
Highlights of the festival finale on Nairn Links on Sunday, September 12, will include an acoustic music stage at James’s at the Putting Green, a Million Mile Beach Clean and an appearance by STORM, the 10m tall latest creation by Edinburgh’s Vision Mechanics, whose creative director, Symon Macintyre, spent his childhood in Nairn.
School outreach programme
Nairn Book and Arts Festival also has an extensive school outreach programme.
Author Barbara Henderson (The Chessman Thief) will visit four local primary schools and S1 pupils at Nairn Academy, while Helen Sedgwick will also run a creative writing workshop with senior students at Nairn Academy.
Gaelic author Moran Ann MacNeil will lead a creative writing activity at Millbank Primary School, before visiting Nairn Academy to discuss Anna Ruadh, her Gaelic translation of Anne of Green Gables.
Nairn Book and Arts Festival celebrates nature
The festival theme – Close to Nature’s Heart – is taken from the writing of John Muir, the influential Scottish-American naturalist, author and environmental philosopher.
This environmental theme will celebrate Nairn’s coastal location in support of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, while raising awareness of climate change in anticipation of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this November.
Festival chair Alex Williamson said: “This year’s festival offers a wonderful showcase of the very best literature and art from across Scotland and the wider UK.
“Many of the artists, authors, musicians and performers appearing at the festival have drawn inspiration from the Highlands’ natural beauty – a reminder that we live in a place which is truly close to nature’s heart.”
Click here for more information and to see the full programme.