Crieff Arts Festival
Crieff Arts Festival runs for a full week before the Crieff Highland Gathering. It consists of an art trail: a town-wide exhibition of local artists’ work in shop windows and several pop-up events.
There are crafting activities for kids and families, and talks and workshops offering opportunities for anyone to get involved and have a go themselves. As a town, we celebrate the many local creatives that call Crieff and the surrounding area home.
Here at Blue Noun, we want to show support for the aims of this festival, and play a part in making fun art events and creative discussion happen.
“Crieff Arts Festival is principally about local artists and local people getting involved in the arts and creating a colourful buzz around our wee town. We are surrounded by the best of Scottish views and full of the best of Scottish folk!”
Blue Noun is best known for immersive English language holidays, but those holidays are built around real Scottish life rather than classrooms.
Supporting local events like the Crieff Arts Festival is one small way of helping keep the cultural life of our town vibrant—for local people, visitors and future language guests alike.
Blue Noun Language Hub
For the whole week, Blue Noun is hosting pop-up events.
This page lists these. I’ll also be sharing a couple of others I’m excited about too.
If you haven’t visited the Blue Noun building since it was a cafe, why not pop in and see it as a pop-up public art space?
If anyone is considering a career in English Language Teaching—come and say hello. I’ll be around all week and always happy to chat.
Literary Events & Talks
An Evening with Crieff Writers’ Group
The Crieff Writers’ Group formed after a series of public readings at last year’s arts festival and has been meeting monthly.
This year, for the festival, they have an open call. They are all writing to the prompt: Among the Trees – and invite you to do so too.
This special public writers’ group meeting will follow the usual format, sharing updates on work news, followed by each sharing their writing to this prompt – with any discussion about process that ensues being open to the audience too.
You are very welcome to bring work to read, or find a spot to hear the readings and just observe how this group shares creative support.
“The premise is simple: we all start with the same prompt, then use our skills in any writing style we like to see how many different ideas, stories, and perspectives a single writing prompt can generate among a group of individuals.
Whether you write poetry, prose, lyrics, or even enjoy writing an evocative editorial, we’d love to have you join us and share, whichever form your writing takes.”
Poetry Open Mic Night
An invitation to share your writing and celebrate all local creative voices!
Hosted by June McEwan.
Details:
Where: Blue Noun Hub
When: 12th August, 7.30-9 pm.
Price: Free
Links:
Image: Ceri White Ceramics (used with permission).
Talk | The Story of Paul Gauguin and his Place in Art History
From France to the South Pacific, friend of Van Gogh and a troubled sole but great artist. The story of Paul Gauguin and his place in art history.
An audio-visual presentation by Dr Roger Cartwright, guest speaker and radio presenter for Heartland FM and Dancing on Air.
Details:
Where: Blue Noun Hub
When: 14th August, 7.30-9 pm.
Price: Free
Visual Art Events
Exhibition | She Wears Her Heritage Like a Crown – A Tribute to All Women
An exhibition of portraits on easels by photographer Patrycja Mikołowska, organised by Renata Fraser and Sylwia Krużyńska.
Each piece celebrates the spirit of Slavic women in a deeply unique way.
→ Portrait Exhibition at Blue Noun | She Wears Her Heritage Like a Crown
Blue Noun is delighted to bring this exhibition to Crieff Arts Festival.
We discovered this exhibition while sharing Perth Art Gallery with a language guest back in February, where it was installed, celebrating International Women’s Day, and immediately began talks to bring it to Blue Noun.
“Renata and Sylwia are the founders of the Women’s Circle – a welcoming space created to bring women together for support, inspiration, and personal growth.
Together, they facilitate sessions where women explore their creativity, share their experiences, and build meaningful connections with one another. Their aim is to create an environment where every woman feels welcomed, understood, and accepted.”
“We believe that women are at their strongest when they support and inspire one another. That is why we are creating a community where every woman, regardless of her age, background, or stage of life, can find a sense of belonging and feel empowered to grow”.
Details:
Where: Blue Noun Hub
When: 9th – 13th August, 11- 4 pm.
Price: Free
Other Venues
Workshop | Try Life Drawing
As part of the Crieff Arts Festival, you are invited to try life drawing.
“For art school candidates, life drawing is an important element in an art school portfolio because it is considered a ‘classic skill.
But anyone can have fun drawing and benefit from the pleasure and challenges life drawing brings”.
This workshop is not at Blue Noun, but we will be going. If you enjoy drawing but you’ve never had a shot with a live model, this can transform your work
Details:
Where: The Square Bar, James Square, Crieff
When: 13th August, 4 – 7 pm
Price: £18
Links
Art Trail
You can find the program for the full arts festival, including the individual art trail windows:
Crieff Arts Festival Fringe
At the last minute, we decided to invite John to share the Blue Noun space and show his work in an event we are calling the Crieff Arts Festival Fringe.
Details:
Where: Blue Noun Hub
When: 9th – 13th August, 11- 4 pm.
Price: Free
Further Information
Blue Noun believes language is best developed through culture. Throughout the year, we take international guests across Strathearn to visit artist studios, galleries, live music events, guided walks, nature experiences and community events.
Hosting part of the Crieff Arts Festival is simply another way of celebrating the community that welcomes our visitors and, before long, begins to feel like home.
→ Blue Noun English Language Holidays in Scotland
Blue Noun’s language holidays are made possible by local people who open their homes and share a little of everyday Scottish life with visitors from around the world.
→ Be a Homestay Host for Blue Noun
We work with local people to create genuine Scottish experiences for international visitors.
→ Our Local Partnership Opportunities
Read about last year’s festival
