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 donation buckets will be distributed]. For a comprehensive overview of amenities in Dumfries, do visit the LoveDumfries platform.

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.

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.

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 (DG1 4TA) at The Crichton, Dock Park, and, of course, the streets of Dumfries.

The Public Programme

Street Choirs Festival Dumfries 2026 is proud to present two public performances, free to all, on Saturday the 13th of June. The Massed Sing, a feature of every festival, is the combined voice of all participating choirs, at noon in Dock Park by the bandstand. Thereafter, look out for choirs scattered around the centre of Dumfries from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.

Dock Park is a beautifully appointed public park running along beside the River Nith. These images will help, we hope, to show the way to the venue.

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