This festival originated in the late 1800s, and today is a fun day out, free of charge, for the local area. A 'queen' is chosen by local people voting in a competition run through the local newspaper. Duties of the queen are to declare the festival open, visit all stalls in the park and also oversee the stage productions. There are vintage fire engines, community stalls, organised games, and a full programme of musical acts performed by music groups, school choirs, dance groups etc. And last but not least, ... Read More

In 1658, Paisley Town Council first granted a charter making it possible for the trades people of Paisley to form societies. The purpose of these societies was to protect their trade and exclude strangers from carrying on the trade within the town’s boundaries. The Paisley Hammermen Society was established in 1761. Its membership was open to various tradesmen employed in a wide range of trades including ironmongers, saddlers, engravers, shoemakers and watchmakers. Membership also appears to have extend... Read More

Programme strand in the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival March 2022. The strand included a new commission for Marion Kenny: one of Scotland’s leading storytellers, and award-winning musician, singer and songwriter: Mairi Campbell, to respond to two films in the National Library of Scotland (NLS) Moving Image Archive featuring Marjory Kennedy Fraser (1857 – 1930). Fraser was one of the foremost folksong collectors and composers in Scotland. She visited many of the islands to the west of Scotland, recordi... Read More

BE United Presents Live @ The Fringe was a series of exciting gigs – hosted as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories – that showcase fresh Black Scottish artists of all genres. The stories that were showcased during the project were varied. Emmanuel Carlos and Tam Tam 2000 told stories of moving to new home, whilst maintaining connection with the old. The stories centred on the journey and of belonging and acceptance. This was done through the medium of dance and talking drums, an art-form widely practi... Read More

Two new stories were performed at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh for the International Children's Festival. "Where are you?" by Theatre Sans Accents was inspired by classic children’s tales such as Redwall and The Animals of the Farthing Wood, in which animals take on human characteristics and fight their animal instincts to face adversity together and survive. Performers explained how the performance aims to ‘put the audience in the place of migrants, moving from place to place’, adding t... Read More

At 11 libraries across West Lothian, library users brought in objects that were special to them or that had stories to tell. One session in particular focussed around lost mining communities in West Lothian and the memories around mining culture users had while growing up. Other stories centred around school days and characters remembered from childhood. The objects brought in became catalysts for many stories about growing up, families and childhood memories. The sessions were held in libraries in Bathg... Read More

The Beatles played 22 times in Scotland. One of the shows was at Bridge of Allan’s Museum Hall, north of Stirling. The gig was to shape the Forth Valley music industry landscape for generations, as well as having an untold impact on local music fans and the wider culture of the area. To celebrate these memories and the stories of those whom it effected, ‘Superfan – Stirling’s Story of The Beatles - Music, People and Place’, was collaboratively curated by Creative Stirling and Stirling’s iconic r... Read More

THE DANCE AND THE STORY consisted of two activities for adults and children. ROBERT BURNS LEARNS TO DANCE : Storytelling and Historical Dance project for the adult community of Sanquhar, Scotland. Dance was also one of Robert Burns great passion's and influenced many of his songs and poems it is said that he loved to step onto the dance floor. In 1779 he took his first lesson aged 17 yrs in Tarbolton,Aryshire, against the wishes of his father. The project worked with researcher Sue Knight and her published ... Read More

Clifftop Projects partnered with local filmmaker Joseph Dalton and traditional storyteller Anne Pitcher to film 'The Wee Birlin' Bannock's Adventures in West Dumbarton' in September 2022. We worked with a community cast of 20 to tell local stories filmed in a number of locations from where William Wallace is said to have hidden from the English to Knowetop farm where Robert the Bruce had his hunting ground. The film will be screened in November in Dumbarton West before being available to view online. ww... Read More

Held in collaboration with Moray Libraries, this exhibition and series of events took place between February and March 2022 at Elgin Library. The exhibition focused on a village on the South shore of the Moray Firth which was destroyed and abandoned as a result of the Great Sand Drift of 1694. While there are scientific and natural explanations for the disappearance of the village, stories of myth and legend about the people, land and events that unfolded have shrouded Culbin in mystery. This exhibition ... Read More

The West End Callans Association was founded in the late 1860s as a charitable association whose purpose was “....to make life a little easier for the deserving poor, particularly the old and helpless”. Assistance could be in the form of gifts of coal, goods, sums of money, or any other form determined by the Committee of Management. Only those who had been born in the West End of Paisley or who had lived there for more than twenty years qualified for assistance. The geographical area covered by the ... Read More