Tain’s St Duthac Book and Arts Festival was a resounding hit
Teacups were raised in Tain on Sunday to all the volunteers who helped make the fourth St Duthac Book and Arts Festival a resounding hit.
Members of the festival organising committee wanted to highlight how vital the volunteers’ role was to the success of the six-day event which attracted hundreds of local people as well as visitors from across the Highlands and from as far afield as North Carolina, USA and Melbourne, Australia. More than 1200 tickets were sold for events across the Easter Ross peninsula.
Audiences were treated to a range of writers’ talks, exhibitions, demonstrations, poetry recitals, storytelling with accompanying music, and art competitions and exhibitions. Free events were provided for primary and secondary schools as well as workshops where visitors could try their hand at skills ranging from glass blowing to lino printing.
The ever-popular Pop-Up Bookshop was a busy hub each day and a live music event in the stunning Collegiate Church in Tain provided the grand finale.
The festival secured writers and novelists including Shona MacLean, author of The Bookseller of Inverness, historian Alistair Moffat, sports journalist Dougie Donnelly and best-selling author Mark Bridgeman who returned to Tain to present another sell out real-life murder trial in Tain Sheriff Court.
Local author, Philip Paris spoke about his book The Last Witch of Scotland and Sudanese author Leila Aboulela read from her recent novel, River Spirit, a New York Times Best Historical Novel of the Year.
At the post-event ‘thank you’ tea party at Tain’s St Duthus Masonic Lodge, chairperson Frances Wood thanked all the volunteers who had come forward to help distribute 2,500 brochures and hundreds of posters and flyers to promote and publicise the festival.
“You also sold hundreds of raffle tickets, helped set up and manned events, served customers in the Pop-up Bookshop, helped collect and set up art panels and bookcases, donated baking and did so many other behind-the-scenes jobs that visitors don’t see but that was very much appreciated by the organising committee,” she said.
