Over 170 artists - 51 Live Events - 31 venues

The 34th Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival programme will be revealed on Friday 8 March with tickets on sale from Tuesday 19 March.

Highlights include the premier of new production of CARMEN, brought to the festival by one of the UK’s leading opera companies: Opera a la Carte, which will take place on Friday 24 May at Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries.  Another opening night highlight is the upbeat celtic tunes of SHOOGLENIFTY, who will be performing at Dalry High School and the National Theatre of Scotland’s remarkable production CALUM’S ROAD taking place 25 May, Theatre Royal, Dumfries.

The ten day festival is packed with fantastic highlights from the world of music, theatre, literature and visual art and features over 170 artists performing in 51 live events at 31 venues across the region.  Over 10,000 people attended the festival last year and organisers are hopeful to bring ever more in 2013.  

Peter Renwick, Programme Development Manager explains:

“We are really excited about announcing this year’s programme, not only have we searched the UK for the best in touring theatre and music, we’ve also got some fantastic mini festivals taking place in the form of the 6 stages and to cap it off a specially commissioned outdoor arts installation taking place on one of the region’s most beautiful beaches.  I think the programme is one of the strongest we’ve ever put out and there will be lots of ways to get involved over the coming months, so keep an eye on our website and facebook page for updates.”

A week before the official start of the festival, a spectacular night time outdoor arts installation LIMINAL, will take place on 18 May at Cardoness Beach, Gatehouse of Fleet. This unique arts adventure is hoped to bring new visitors to the area and is tipped to be one of the ‘must see’ shows of the festival. 

Sid Ambrose, Curator explains:

“We wanted to create something really quirky that reflected one of the best assets the region has; we have over 200 miles of coastline in Dumfries & Galloway and this impressive arts installation was created to reflect the importance of the coastline.  A giant 8 metre sphere will be installed on the mud flats when the tide is out and moving abstract images will be projected onto it.  The images were filmed in this beach area and represent the ever-changing tidal environment.”

Liminal takes place on Saturday 18 May at Cardoness Beach, Gatehouse of Fleet.

More details HERE.