Musical extravaganza in city kirk brings arts festival to a close

Celebration of arts and culture comes to climax in church

A landmark Perth church came alive with the sound of music last night, as the curtain came down on a week-long celebration of arts and culture.

Historic St Matthew’s kirk, on the banks of the River Tay, hosted the hotly anticipated Mass of the River Night event, a high point of the city’s second annual Platform Festival.

The show, which raised money for the Perth and Kinross Foodbank, featured musicians, poetry and spoken word by artists from as far afield as Poland.

The iconic church is no stranger to hosting musical extravaganzas, having held a secret gig for pop star Alesha Dixon during the Winter Festival.

The mass-with-a-difference was organised by Open Up, a group of artists and performers led by Ewelina Labuda and Simon Duncan whose aim is to bring art and culture to a wider audience.

The group has been operating under the radar for a few years and this was its biggest public event.

Mr Duncan said: “Our aim from the beginning was to ‘open up’ art to people who would most likely never visit a gallery, challenge people’s expectations of how art might talk to them and offer a more visceral atmosphere for those attending.

“Mass of the Night River is our most ambitious event to date and we think we have brought together a very eclectic, but talented collection of artists, musicians and poets to help us showcase a little of the culture in our community.

“We are delighted to be a part of the Platform Festival and hopefully this will allow us to reach out to those who might not have been aware of what we do before now.”

The region’s artistic community has strongly supported this year’s festival, which ends today. The biggest of its kind, the event has featured 18 events across 22 venues, as well as putting poets and performers on the buses.

The Perthshire Open Studios Exhibition at the city’s Frames Gallery has proved one of the highlights, offering visitors a preview of September’s full Open Studios experience.

Meanwhile, the Perthshire Visual Arts Forum has announced a link-up with local businesses to create original artwork to be shown in a special art trail, including stops at Café Calluna, Pitlochry; Battleby House in Redgorton; the Bike Station in Old High Street, Perth and Branklyn Gardens.

Picture: Phil Hannah. One of the performers, Bigmouth, on stage at St Matthew’s kirk.

Picture: Phil Hannah. Festival poet Jim McIntosh who performed several readings.