Welcome to Dumfries! Our theme is EQUALITY & LOVE

Cairn Chorus, the CatStrand Singers, and SongWave welcome you to The 2026 Street Choirs Festival which will take place over the weekend of Friday, 12th of June to Sunday the 14th of June, 2026!

The choirs of Cairn Chorus, SongWave, and the CatStrand Singers, under the musical direction of Kate Howard, are pleased to welcome you all to this year’s Street Choirs Festival in Dumfries, Scotland’s Queen of the South. The Street Choirs Festival is a fabulous event where singers from across the UK meet up with other singers to take part in this unique, a capella experience, sharing our voices and sending out our message on the streets. This year is the 42nd Street Choir Festival, and notably, the first Street Choir Festival in Scotland. [Read more about the festival hosts and their chosen charities, among which the proceeds from the busking collection will be distributed]

Devorgilla Bridge for pedestrians in Dumfries
Devorgilla Bridge across the River Nith
The Sands parking area, with Greyfriars Church steeple on the far left, from across the River Nith, Dumfries
The Sands parking area with streets leading up to the town centre

Dumfries is an historic town, with resonances back to Robert the Bruce, and latterly to the Chartists and the Covenanters. Please see a brief resumé of some local history, century by century, on our Dumfries and Surrounds sketch page.

Less bloody, more poetically, and arguably more importantly in the grand scheme of things, Dumfries was home to the Bard of Scotland, Robert Burns. The Greyfriars Church overlooks his statue in the square, and the town cherishes Burns’ memory to this day. Speakers at Burns Night suppers (around the 25th January) like to suggest that more queries are made, today, of Google about Robert Burns’ poems and songs, than of Shakespeare’s oeuvre, but although this statement is generally false (perhaps more likely in the weeks before the annual dinner and the requisite Immortal Memory speech — see this example), it goes some way to revealing how significant Burns is in the mind of Scots people the world over.

The main pedestrian square of Dumfries
The large square in the centre of Dumfries
The statue of Robert Burns on the square beneath Greyfriars Church
Robert Burns watches over the square, in front of Greyfriars Church

Across the River Nith, quite near to the Robert Burns Centre, stands the oldest working camera obscura in the world. The camera is open on clement days with a minimum of wind.

An image of Dumfries from the camera obscura
The view from the camera obscura over the River Nith

The 2026 Street Choirs Festival will take place over the weekend of Friday, 12th of June to Sunday the 14th of June, 2026, with our chosen theme of Equality and Love.

Our main venues for the weekend are Easterbrook Hall at The Crichton, Dock Park, and, of course, the streets of Dumfries.

The Crichton Estate

Festival Stewards

If you or someone you know are interested in being a festival steward, please take a look at the “Volunteer/Steward” page, which we will make live in the first months of 2026.

Outline of the 2026 Festival

The weekend will follow much the same format as previous festivals, with a few exceptions.

PLEASE NOTE THESE TIMINGS ARE PROVISIONAL AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE BEFORE THE EVENT

Friday

16:00 Registration at Easterbrook Hall. There will be a bar and tea/coffee and an opportunity for socialising. Camping set up, grabbing some food etc.

20:30 Short informal concert given by the hosting choirs followed by a ceilidh. The bar will be open till late.

Saturday

9:00 – 10:00 Late Registration & Workshop sign-up

10:00 -11.30: Massed Sing rehearsal in Easterbrook Hall

12:30 -13:00 Massed Sing in Dock Park*

14:00 – 16:00 Busking in Dumfries

17:30 -19:00 First part of concert (Easterbrook Hall)

19:00 – 19:45 Break

19:45 – 23:00 Second part of concert (Easterbrook Hall)

23:00 – 01:00 Bar and socialising

NB: Food will be available during the evening – details to follow.

Sunday

8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast available in Easterbrook Hall

9:30 – 10:30 Workshop 1

10:30 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:00 Workshop 2

12:15 – 14:00 Picnic and close


  • * Dock Park    , where we will hold the Massed Sing, is a beautifully appointed park about 1.3 miles walk from The Crichton and Easterbook Hall

Tentative Administration/Organising Schedule

‘Mid-October,’ 2025:  StreetChoirsFestival.org.uk (Dumfries) goes live [first wave]

We’ll be contacting choirs mid-November to invite them to register for the festival. 

Individual choir member registration will open at the end of February 2026.

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