We’ll update this page with useful information for festival registrants as it becomes available.
| FEEDBACK, PLEASE! Click into our cute little Feedback Form and spend five minutes, no more, clicking boxes, adding a comment or two, and telling us how you’ve felt about this year’s Street Choirs Festival. Your contribution will be very much appreciated! FOUND ITEMS: Several items have been found at various places in the Festival. The missing scarves are just about on their way back to their owner, but in addition there are: a cap; a pair of spectacles; a stone; and two sets of keys. Get in touch with us through the main address: DumfriesStreetChoirs2026@gmail.com with a description and an address please, if you’d like these items back (paid postage costs would be very gratefully received!) | A REPRISE OF THE FESTIVAL WEEKEND, with some additional interspersed musical treats as well: From Hugh Taylor and Celtic Music Radio’s Facebook feed: which includes two clips of the Massed Sing (Freedom Come All Ye and Hold On) . . . Hugh Taylor’s FOLKnSTUFF on Celtic Music Radio, Tuesday 16th June 2026 from 16.00-18.00hrs GMT Some more new goodies this week including the latest Album from the Old Crow Medicine Show with Molly Tuttle on Vocals. I’ve also got an interesting wee story to tell you about Alan Taylor, Ed Sheeran and Preston Reed. And I’m just back from the most incredible festival weekend. For the first time since its inception in 1984, the Street Choirs Festival came over the border, to the town of Dumfries. Kate Howard, who organised and directed it invited me to attend. I started with the Massed Sing, on the banks of the River Nith at Dock Park, when Provost Tracey Little welcomed everyone and then close to 900 voices, entertained an audience of locals. Then the invasion of the town centre got underway, with all the choirs heading to designating busking spots to create a continuous live soundtrack to the afternoon. Later there was a full-on concert, with ten choirs, each with just ten minutes to get on stage, do the introductions, sing the songs then get back off. It ran with military precision and finished on time. Sunday morning was for workshops. I managed Gaelic Songs with the inimitable John Howieson and Scots and Burns Songs, with Emily Smith. I’ve used my recordings to paint a sound snapshot of the weekend. Music is by: The Massed Choirs of the Festival, Caedmon Choir, Gateshead, Dark Skies Choir, Moffat, Preston Peoples Choir, Calder Valley Voices, Hebden Bridge, Campaign Choir Network, Mellow Party, Donnie Munro and Runrig. Hugh Taylor’s FOLKnSTUFF is broadcast on Celtic Music Radio every Tuesday from 4-6pm (GMT). You can listen on 95fm throughout Glasgow, On DAB in Inverclyde, Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Ayrshire, Newry, in Northern Ireland, and Worldwide on our live stream, the TuneIn Radio App, via your computer, smart phone or speaker, or ask Alexa to play Celtic Music Radio. www.celticmusicradio.net | RUNNING GALLERY OF THE FESTIVAL: Friday When we get images from participants in this year’s festival, we’ll post them in our running gallery, hot off the press, as it were! Saturday’s events here, still coming in. Sunday’s events have started, with workshop stills and videos. Further contributions of clips featuring each and all participating choirs will be very much appreciated, and the best way to get them served here is to WeTransfer them to our web content manager. |
| EXTRA OUTDOOR TOILETS AT DOCK PARK We are adding a bank of extra ‘W.Cs in Fields’ portable toilets between the Bandstand and the Car Park at Dock Park, near to where we will be holding the Massed Sing. The public toilets are designated on an Open User Map linked here. | FEEDBACK, PLEASE! Click into our cute little Feedback Form and spend five minutes, no more, clicking boxes, adding a comment or two, and telling us how you’ve felt about this year’s Street Choirs Festival. Your contribution will be very much appreciated! | RUNNING GALLERY OF THE FESTIVAL: Friday When we get images from participants in this year’s festival, we’ll post them in our running gallery, hot off the press, as it were! Saturday’s events here, still coming in. Sunday’s events have started. |
| GETTING TO DOCK PARK FOR THE MASSED SING FROM EASTERBROOK HALL We have prepared a synopsis of the three ways in which choir members can get themselves to the Massed Sing on time, after our rehearsal on Saturday morning, ie, on foot, by personal vehicle, or by bespoke shuttle bus. This information can be found on our Transport Page, and on the Main Venues page (Dock Park and Easterbrook Hall are our main venues for the weekend). | ACCESS Folks attending the Street Choirs Festival Dumfries 2026 should be aware of the LoveDumfries.co.uk portal which offers a large variety of useful and timely information: LoveDumfries.co.uk – a live listing of all cafes/restaurants showing “where is open now” – a detailed map of all buildings on the Crichton estate – listings of circa 2000 shops, services etc across the town – interactive map of the Burns Walk around town – events postings – lots of other stuff (including the Street Choirs Festival listing!) | PARKING DISCS Public parking in Dumfries is monitored, as in many urban centres throughout the UK, by means of dashboard-sited parking discs indicating the time of the vehicle’s arrival. If visitors have a parking disc from their own area, that is perfectly suitable here. A few parking discs will be available at reception. This facility could be useful if singers park at Whitesands for example, and make their way into the town centre for their Street Singing site. |
| FRIDAY PICKUP AT TRAIN STATION We expect to provide a shuttle bus service from the railway station in Dumfries to Easterbrook Hall, throughout Friday after 12:30pm. Please email our Transport Coordinator with your expected arrival time and number in your party, and we will do our best to accommodate. | PERSONAL PROTECTION: Campers Beware: we can’t mention it enough: there will be midges about! Registrants are advised to take suitable precautions (eg midge-repellant lotion or spray) when outside. We do not endorse any particular product, but whatever you might think/hope/pray that can repel the midgies might be better than nothing. All registrants should have wet weather gear available in the event of rain during the Massed Sing and the Street Singing sessions, as well as water bottles. | ADDITIONAL FOOD STALLS We’re getting lots of queries about the availability of food for registrants at Friday dinner time. In addition to food vans (eg fish & chips) parked on the lawn around the marquee, the Easterbrook Bistro are extending their food service to a barbecue beside the marquee. |
| CHANGES IN WORKSHOP VENUES We’ve had to make strategic changes to a few of the workshop venues after the printed brochure went to press: In addition to a change of tutor from Rose Ardron to Jane Lewis for Singing the Resistance, now in Duncan Room 3, there are three other venue changes: Songs for Changing Times with Ali Burns will be at Easterbrook Main Hall Breton Dance and Song with Ian Buckley will be in Duncan Room 4 Scots and Burns Songs with Emily Smith will be in Crichton Church | LEFT LUGGAGE A facility to leave luggage on site will be available at Easterbrook Hall. The reception desk volunteers will be able to direct enquirers to the appropriate room, which will be sign-posted. | |
