PAUL MALIK

Festivals are a lot like buses. Just when one is postponed after getting stuck in the proverbial mud, two more come along instead.

What is refreshing about Solas and Platform is their relative size. Like Perth, they appear small at first glance, but when probed a little deeper they expose a cultural oeuvre of something twice as large.

Community engagement with the arts is always a tricky business, especially given the pernicious country-wide budget trimming arts and culture has experienced since, well, forever.

But if we continue to encourage art collectives in showcasing their work to as wide a possible audience, then we help cement Perth’s rightful place as a contender for City of Culture 2021.

Winning the City of Culture title would be a terrific boon for the city, but it is important it is not the be-all and endall of this cultural movement.

Establishing Perth as the country’s go-to artistic destination, regardless of what the future might bring, is surely the most important aspect of everything that is being brought together.

Without a thriving art and culture base, cities become little more than places to live – a proverbial travel tavern on an atlas full of hotels.

Perth and Kinross should continue to develop its scene, not for titles, but because it is the right thing to do.