Wild Goose Festival is back for 2023. This year’s programme offers a fun-filled series of inspiring and educational, family-friendly activities and events across Dumfries & Galloway.
The eleven-day festival runs from 19th – 29th October, weaving art, culture, and nature together through a series of activities from interactive storytelling, nature walks, conversations to performances and creative workshops for all ages.
The Dumfries Women’s Signwriting Squad return to the Stove for their monthly meet up, an open space for all women with a love of letters, from the experienced to complete beginners.
The monthly meet up is a space for gathering and sharing skills and ideas, and in October and November the squad are hosting a two-part panel jam session! Panel Jams are an opportunity for signwriters to come together and work on individual sign projects, and with Christmas looming over the horizon the group are hosting a two-part session to create a piece for sale or gifting. Bring your own idea for a panel, or be prepared to design as part of our first session. Paints and panels will be provided. Primed panels will be available sized approx 30 x 42cm (A3), but if you’d like to bring your own prepared panel feel free.
Tea and coffee and basic materials provided.
DWSS are a fledgling group of artists with a love of traditional hand lettering. Please note that our monthly meet-ups at the Stove are a space solely intended for female signwriters and their practice. If this demographic does not include you, but you would like to get involved with signwriting please send us an email enquiry at [email protected].
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
The Climate Kitchen, run by local community members, is a space for learning, sharing, contributing and working together to do something positive for the climate!
The Stove Cafe will be open for food and drink from 5.30pm, so if you’ve got an appetite for change OR an appetite for a cuppa and some locally sourced food then we look forward to seeing you there!
Doors open at 5.30pm for food, the event starts at 6pm sharp.
Access Information:Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
This year, our famous Salty Coo was carried along Mill Green behind a piper, before being dunked in the Nith by a group of vikings!
On 2nd September 2023, we welcomed teams of sailors, coastal rowers, canoes and kayaks at the tenth annual Nithraid River Race. Our competitors entered the Nith at Glencaple at high tide and raced to Dumfries and back, battling for the best time.
Competitors getting ready to race in Glencaple.
Although there was the occasional cloud, we were fortunate to have a bright warm day for racing. The nice weather brought lots of people to the banks of the Nith, who enjoyed spectating the race. The day brightened as the afternoon went on, creating perfect conditions for those who joined us to watch and take part in the activities at Mill Green.
Some of our racers watching the tidal bore come in at Glencaple – with some kayakers enjoying the wave!
Produced by The Stove Network and supported by Dumfries & Galloway Council, Historic Environment Scotland, and EcoArt, this year’s race saw the return of competitors from previous years, as well as new racers who travelled as far as the Firth of Clyde, and North Queensferry to compete. This year we had a great mix of kayakers, coastal rowers and a few sailors who enjoyed their surroundings on the Nith.
Wigtown Bay CRC before the race.
The first vessel left the banks of Glencaple at 1:03pm, with sail boats setting off first, followed by rowers and finishing with kayakers.
Coastal rowing boats preparing for the race to start.
This year, each boat had to transport precious ‘cargo’ – flags created by young people during EcoArt’s flag making workshops.
As the boats arrived at Mill Green, each boat delivered their flag and it was raised over the Suspension Bridge, creating a fantastic visual spectacle for those enjoying the race in Dumfries and signalling the halfway point of the race.
Rows of colourful flags adorn the Suspension Bridge, marking the halfway point of the race. (EcoArt is a grassroots charity connecting community, art & sustainability. Find out more about the LAND project and EcoArt here.)
“Nithraid celebrated its 10th Birthday this year with one of it’s most successful turnouts! We had over thirty vessels of different shapes and sizes competing which really brought the river to life, making it feel like aproper celebration. Thank you to all of the spectators that lined the banks of the Nith to cheer our racers on! It made a very special day even more memorable. Nithraid is all about celebrating our town’s river, and we are delighted that so many people took part, watched and enjoyed the activities planned for the day.”
Sal Cuddihy, Nithraid Project Manager and Head of Production at The Stove Network
The public watching the boats arrive at Mill Green, whilst enjoying stalls and activity.
In addition to the annual River Race, the Stove Network led a series of family-friendly activities at Mill Green, all free of charge and accessible along the banks of the River Nith, including:
‘If Fishes were Wishes for the Nith’ by Elizabeth Tindal, Freelance Ranger.
The Missing Museum Drop-In
Nith Life Community Visioning
Boats arriving in Dumfries
Before the second leg of the race could begin, we had the annual tradition of the dunking of the salty coo! The coo (our mascot) symbolises the historic journey made by herds of cattle, led by their farmers, across the river at low tide, from Maxwelltown on the west bank to the cattle market at Whitesands on the east side of the river.
Our Salty Coo was taken in procession across Mill Green, led by a piper, before being returned to the water. The vikings from Cluaran took care of our coo on her voyage in the Nith. Hello coo!
After a quick rest and and refreshments from the Robert Burns Centre, our competitors were ready for the second leg of the race.
Racers get ready for the second leg of the race.
Our sailors and rowers were first to depart back to Glencaple, with our kayakers canoeists setting off at the same time for the final stretch!
The Nithraid team ready to time the second leg of the race. Team rowers setting off for Glencaple.On your marks, get set…Go!
Beyond Mill Green, there was various activity for the public to enjoy at the Coach and Horses and the Dougie Arms. At the Coach, there was an exhibition by artists Fraser Irvin, Neil Patterson, Leanne Bradwick and a live performance of ‘Nithraid’, a poem by Davey Payne. Both pubs hosted live music throughout the day till late at night!
We can’t thank our competitors enough for all the hard work and effort each of you gave to this year’s race. You are all winners in our eyes.
However, it is also important to give credit to those who were succesful in achieving the best time!
The Nithraid 2023 winners:
Category
Team / Boat Name
Total Time
Coastal Rowing
Firth of Clyde Rowing Club
01:25:51.00
Rowing
Lady Moira
01:10:45.00
Sailing
Egret
02:12:21.00
Kayaking
Phil Dean
01:10:56.00
A MASSIVE thank you and well done to all who took part in our tenth anniversary race. We are had a fantastic day, and we hope you did too!
The Nith Inshore Rescue team.
Thank you also to EcoArt, Simon Lidwell & the Cluaran Heritage Project clan, Nith Life, The Missing Museum and Elizabeth Tindell for the wonderful entertainment and activity at Mill Green; the safety boats who were out on the Nith all day to keep the competitors safe; Nith Inshore Rescue, who do the vital work of keeping our waters safe all year-round; Dumfries and Galloway Radio Unit who helped with parking and safely directing boats and competitors in Glencaple; all those who volunteered at this year’s event to help us set up and facilitate the race; and the businesses around Dumfries who set up special live entertainment around the town to help us celebrate Nithraid – The Dougie Arms, and Coach and Horses Inn.
Our Salty Coo en route to the River Nith.
– The Stove Network
For more information on Nithraid, visit our webpagehere.
Throughout July & August 2023, the Market of Possibility took over a former retail unit in the Loreburne Centre in Dumfries, offering a new and interactive space, where the public could visit free of charge, get creative and share their visions for the future of our town.
This project was made in collaboration with Dumfries Partnership Action Group (DPAG) and supported by the National Lottery Community Fund. The Market held exhibitions, workshops and interactive elements by local community groups and each of the Stove’s Open Hoose Projects. Learn more about the project below.
The Market of Possibility was an opportunity to work with our Open Hoose groups towards realising an ambitious project exploring the future identity of the town as a thriving, connected and creative place to live. Being able to connect these campaigns, communities and enterprises within the larger Dumfries Partnership Action Group action plan, rooted the ideas and activity to a broader campaign towards the grassroots regeneration of our town. From music to history, the idea of a diverse, cultural and community-led town centre once again felt more than tangible.
Martin O’Neill, Artistic Director
The space that held the Market was transformed by the Stove’s production team from an empty retail space into a collaborative playground with tactile exhibitions, interactive elements and areas where the public were urged to get involved and share their own thoughts about the future of the town.
The space was open three days each week over the two months from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, and was visited by Dumfries locals, visitors, and tourists who delved into a world of grassroots campaigns, electrifying projects, and inspiring initiatives, all led by local people.
Being involved with the transformation of the unit in the Loreburne Centre was a fantastic opportunity to bring together so many fantastic community groups from Dumfries into one cohesive, stimulating, and accessible space. We sectioned the ‘market’ into different town sections, where those visiting the space could explore different futures for Dumfries just by walking around taking everything in. As the production team, we were able to engage and talk with the public, which resulted in very meaningful and insightful conversations about our town that we are excited to build upon in the future.
Sal Cuddihy, Production Lead
Referencing Dumfries’ history as the regions key market town, the Market was focussed on the celebration of local innovation and creativity and featured a plethora of creative workshops as well as interactive installations in partnership with some of the town’s most popular creative community groups.
Our Open Hoose groups were also involved, with Doughlicious, Free Improvisation, Queer Club, Write, Nith Life and Repair Shop hosting drop-in events for the public.
The space as a whole asked those who entered “What if Dumfries was…”, where visitors were urged to ponder the possibility of our town being a green, creative, making, inclusive, music, and historic town. Each of these avenues of thought roused hundreds of responses, and from this exercise we can explore what the future of Dumfries might look like, and all the different possibilities that may shape it.
The legacy of MOP is so vast that being able to boil down to a few key actions is a little daunting but certainly something we can’t wait to explore. Using the different ‘towns’ within the space was particularly well received as a means of exploring not only the Dumfries of the future, but the town as it is today. We’ve over 400 postcards of creative ideas from the public to rifle through which may well lead to the next big thing for Dumfries. Above all however, working across all the community groups, partners, organisations, campaigns and businesses towards realising this project has laid a fertile ground for more collaborations in the near future. Collaborations both enterprising, creative and surprising. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Martin O’Neill
Learn more about the Market of Possibility, and each of the groups involved with the project here.
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
