The 5th annual Wild Goose Festival starts today (Friday, October 18) and will run for 10 days with plenty of family-friendly activities across Dumfries and Galloway in the packed programme.
Alongside the main festival activities which can be viewed at the festival’s dedicated website: www.wildgoosefestival.scot – which has ticket and event details – there is an immersive Wild Goose Festival Hub, hosted in the Loreburne Centre on the High Street of Dumfries.
Printed event guides can be picked up at The Stove Cafe on Dumfries High Street or participating partner sites.
The festival, which began in Dumfries but has branched out, celebrates the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migratory species – including barnacle geese – which overwinter Caerlaverock WWT and on the Solway.
The programme has everything from interactive storytelling and nature walks, to performances and creative workshops.
The Wild Goose Festival connects the region to other locations across the globe, from Norway to Iceland and Svalbard
to Greenland.
Gail Macgregor, the Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council said: “The Wild Goose Festival beautifully promotes our region’s stunning environment, landscape and wildlife. The Stove Network and its festival partners have put together an inspiring and thought-provoking programme.
“The Council welcomes this Festival’s development and its potential to inspire local people and visitors to enjoy our countryside and learn more about our wildlife and their habitats.”
Marianne Nicholson, engagement officer at WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre, added: “We are excited to be involved with the festival again this year. It is a lovely celebration of all things migration and that is what WWT Caerlaverock does best. As an organisation, we have been involved in the festival since the beginning and seeing it get better and better over the years has been fantastic. We can’t wait to share our wetlands with Wild Goose Festival attendees.”
This year’s key festival partners include; The Stove Network, BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), Cycling Dumfries,
Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service (East), ECO LG, Fair Scotland, Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, LiftD&G, Loch Ken Trust, MOOL (Massive Outpouring Of Love), NatureScot (SNH), PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society), RSPB, Solway Firth Partnership, Species on the Edge, WWT Caerlaverock.
he festival’s lead producer, Sal Cuddihy, said: “We live in a unique region, that attracts hundreds of thousands of migratory species each year, our festival is a celebration of this, and an opportunity to highlight wider social histories that are linked to this theme. The programme uses creativity as a tool for learning, participation and engagement with the natural world and with each of the partners involved in this year’s festival.”