Plenty BRAW talent lined up for festival
Events include show by Players
Preparations are well under way for the fourth It’s BRAW! festival, which kicks off on Saturday this week.
The week-long showcase features a packed programme of arts and crafts workshops, as well as a variety of entertainment and concerts.
And dozens of artists, musicians, actors and other creatives in Blairgowrie and Rattray – as well as further afield – are looking forward to what will be the first in-person event for many of them after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of hundreds of events, festivals and exhibitions up and down the country.
The programme gets under way with a floral studies art workshop on Saturday followed by an evening of country classics with musicians Bob Stewart and Sol Christie.
Blairgowrie and Rattray Arts for Wellbeing (BRAW) week evolved from the Rattray Arts Festival, which this year will be held on Saturday, August 28, and Sunday, August 29, in Rattray Church Hall as part of the wider event.
Rattray Arts Festival celebrates the talent and skills of local creative artists with an annual exhibition of work and will feature hundreds of original paintings and selected designs by local sculptors, jewellers, silversmiths, stained glass artists, potters and a weaver as part of the two-day event.
It also raises thousands of pounds for charity, with 20 per cent of all sales over the weekend kindly donated by the artists.
This year the chosen charitable beneficiary is once again Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.
As well as the exhibition, there will be several workshops over the course of the week run by artists and a competition with a £100 voucher for artists’ materials up for grabs.
The competition, which takes place on Saturday, August 28, is open to anyone in the area and there is also a competition for under 16s with a prize of a £25 voucher.
Other events lined-up include a number of taster sessions run by the team at Nest Creative Spaces in Blairgowrie.
Among the creative skills you can try out are rag rug making, needlefelting, French knitting, bead loom weaving, macrame and decoupage. There are also two outdoor sessions which involve a gentle walk along the riverside area before returning to Nest to create a piece of art in whatever medium you are inspired to do so.
And Blairgowrie Players will also be hosting one of their popular Murder Mystery sessions, ‘Death by Radio’.
Lesley McDonald is chair of the It’s BRAW! committee.
She said: “We have been delighted with the response to this year’s It’s BRAW! festival and are so excited to be back after having to cancel last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our event this year is slightly scaled back from previous years due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus restrictions but we are still very proud of what our community has to offer.
“And one of the good things that has come out of this is that we can now offer the option to attend many of the events in person or online, which makes It’s BRAW! more accessible to a much wider audience.
“As well as people watching the events from abroad, it also allows people in Blairgowrie and Rattray who may not be able to attend the events in person for whatever reason to still get involved, which is just fantastic.
“Our aim is to get folk interacting and experiencing the wealth of creative arts and activities within the town and maybe try something new, and the programme for this year’s showcase has something for everyone.”
Fellow committee member Sam Stewart organises the music events as part of the festival week, as well as its weekly online music sessions.
Our aim is to get folk interacting and experiencing the wealth of creative arts and activities within the town
Lesley McDonald
She emphasised the importance of the wellbeing side of the festival, explaining: “The wellbeing aspect of It’s BRAW! has always been important but is of particular importance this year – for the musicians and artists as well as the festival-goers and the local community.
“It has been a very difficult 18 months for many people, including musicians, many of whom have had little or no work for 18 months and have struggled financially because of that, which has a knock-on effect on many performers’ mental health and wellbeing. We are therefore looking forward to this year’s festival more than ever.”
Tickets are on sale at the festival’s new website - www. itsbraw.scot
See page 5and 6 for the full programme of events.