We’ve marked the main venues on the map below, in which the statue of Robert Burns is the top marker.
Registration on arrival will take place at Easterbrook Hall, on The Crichton campus, the bottom marker on this map.
The massed sing on Saturday morning will be outside in Dock Park, next to the River Nith, the middle marker on this map, right beside the Band Pavilion. This outdoor concert is free to all. Please note the suggested pedestrian route marked on the map below in tiny red feet, from Easterbrook Hall to Dock Park. In addition, we are putting on a shuttle bus service from Easterbrook Hall, which will also be useful for transport to close to the Street Singing sites, and back. The information below should clarify for all how the participating choirs will get to the Dock Park venue for the Massed Sing by noon.
How to go between the Crichton and Dock Park
On the Saturday morning there is an interval of one hour between the end of the Massed Sing practice in Easterbrook Hall at 11.00, and the Sing itself in Dock Park at midday. Everyone will have to find their way between the two in a relatively short time. There are three ways of doing this:
- Walk: there is a lovely walking route largely off-road, down through the Crichton estate, along Glencaple road, through Castledykes Park, and along the bank of the Nith to Dock Park. The route is shown on the map in the back cover of the booklet, and there will be stewards along the way to guide you. The walk takes about 30 minutes, and is downhill most of the way (at least it is on the way to Dock Park!), and we hope that as many as can will take this walk.\
- Car: there is a fairly large car park at the town centre side of Dock Park, so anyone with their car at the Crichton could easily travel between the two. Should Dock Park car park fill up, there is a much larger car park at Brooms Road, which is a few minutes’ walk away. Both car parks are marked on the map in the centre spread of the booklet (the same hand-drawn map is shown on the Street Singing main menu).
- Shuttle bus: we have arranged for three minibuses to shuttle between the main entrance at Easterbrook Hall and Dock Park from 11.00 in as many runs as we can fit in. The buses will only accommodate at most 20% of people at the festival, given the short period of time, so are intended mostly for people for whom other options would be daunting. If wheelchair users need to use the bus, they must contact us in advance (email our Disabled Transport Coordinator) so we can arrange the minibus to suit. We shall also use the shuttle buses for the return journey after the busking, departing from the Dock Park car park from 2.15pm onwards.
As we’ve been hearing at our lively hand-over session with the friendly folks from the Bradford 2025 Street Choirs Festivall, umbrellas unfurled at the front will mitigate against line-of-sight by the singers behind. We will ask that participants come prepared for rain (ie hooded waterproofs) so as to minimise umbrella challenges.
The Friday evening Concert, rehearsal for the Massed Sing and Individual Choir Performances at Easterbrook Hall on Saturday late afternoon and all evening, will all be held in Easterbrook Hall, and all of these activities are restricted to registered participants only.
Street Singing sites (which are free for anyone to observe, and listen in the centre of Dumfries) and workshop venues (for the Sunday morning activities available to registered participants only) are designated on maps for these activities as found in the submenus under Street Singing or Venues menus.
