St Duthac Book and Arts Festival secures funding boost from Port of Cromarty Firth
The annual St Duthac Book and Arts Festival has been awarded financial support from the Port of Cromarty Firth’s (POCF) Community Sponsorship Programme.
A donation of £2000 has been given to the festival, based in Tain, which is run by the St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Group. Authors, poets, storytellers, musicians and artists will come together for five days of events and workshops in the area.
This year will be the fourth year of the Festival, with 39 organised events across the area. A pop-up bookshop based in the Royal Hotel’s Clan Ross Tearooms will have a variety of pre-loved books available, as well as new books through collaboration with Waterstones in Inverness.
The Festival further hopes to combat the area’s struggles with social isolation through a ‘walk and talk’ event. Two local guides will take groups through Balnagown Castle’s grounds and introduce them to the Ross family history, in collaboration with Balnagown Estate.
Free events in local schools will invite guest speakers along to the Festival. Scottish author S G MacLean talking about her 2023 best-selling Jacobite novel The Bookseller of Inverness, and local author Philip Paris will be talking about the research that went into his latest book The Last Witch of Scotland.
Catherine Williams, Volunteer Funding C-ordinator for the St Duthac Book and Arts Festival, said: “The St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Group is delighted to be working with and supported by Port of Cromarty Firth. Some 16 authors, together with poets, musicians and artists, will come together from 10th to 15th September to provide a rich and varied programme.
“While not revealing names yet, the Group’s programme is almost complete, and includes a very well know Scottish crime writer heading north; a Court House conundrum; and an evening of Fun, Fizz and Fiction planned for someone’s Birthday on the Saturday evening. A concert, children’s events, workshops and a programme of free schools events complete the line-up. All Festival details and how to book will be on the Group’s website soon stduthacbookfest.com”
Alex Johnnson, Marketing and PR Manager for Port of Cromarty Firth, said: “The Community Sponsorship Programme is of huge importance to the Port. We enjoy working with the communities that border the Firth and learning about the projects close to their heart.
“Every year the submissions we receive provide us with a fantastic understanding of the important work that goes on around the area. We look forward to finding out about more projects in the area as the year goes on.”
The Community Sponsorship Programme aspires to improve, safeguard and develop Cromarty Firth communities, for the benefit of the local people.
Community projects, schools or local charities based in one of the nine communities that border the Cromarty Firth are welcome to apply for support. They can do so by submitting an application form stating the project’s objectives, aspirations and the benefits to the community, along with a letter/email of support from their local Community Council.
Projects must be collaborative and meet one of four eligibility criteria:
- Skills development, employability or job creation,
- Vessel crew or passenger support,
- Environmental protection or enhancement,
- Events or projects which encourage inter-community collaboration.
Application forms are available on the Port of Cromarty Firth website or from cfpa@cfpa.co.uk.
