Arran Theatre and Arts Trust are excited to announce the return of the McLellan Arts Festival for this summer!
This year's McLellan Festival will run from:
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Friday 5th to Friday 12th September 2025
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Yours Truly,
All at Arran Theatre and Arts Trust
Robert McLellan 1907 - 1985
2024 Festival Programme
Tickets for all performances available online at Ticket Source or at the door on evening of performance - please note that we can accept CASH ONLY on the door.
BARGAIN! - Festival Season Ticket £50
Covers 8 events - does not include Scottish Ensemble, National Theatre of Scotland and poetry workshops.
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All events free to under 18s (except Scottish Ensemble and National Theatre of Scotland)
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Special Book Festival Offer: All 4 adult events for £40
The McLellan Arts Festival Programme
McLellan Poetry Festival and Competitions Announcement
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With great regret, due to unforeseen circumstances, it has been necessary to cancel the poetry events and workshops on Arran on Friday 6th, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.
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The winning and commended poems from this year's McLellan English and Scots Competitions will be announced and published on Arran Theatre and Arts Trust website by the beginning of September.
All winning and commended poets in both competitions have now been notified, and we offer our congratulations to all, and our thanks to our judges this year, William (Billy) Letford and Jim Mackintosh for all their reading and hard working in selecting the final winners.
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Many thanks to all the wonderful poets who took the time to enter the competitions this year and to trust us with their work, which made very many hours of happy and interesting reading.
Further details about individual events below
Tickets for each event will be available on the door (CASH ONLY please) or can be bought in advance online here
Friday 30th August
McLellan Sessions
A foot stomping evening of Traditional Music with world class musicians Gillian Frame and Finlay Napier, supported by Arran talent in music and stories.
Whiting Bay Hall 7.30pm: £12 - BYOB
Saturday 31st August & Sunday 1st September
McLellan Book Festival & Wee Mac Arran Children's Book Festival
Wee Mac Arran Children's Book Festival
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Saturday 31st August:
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11am: Mike Nicholson
12.15pm: Louise Baillie
1.30pm: Ross MacKenzie
2.30pm: Debi Gliori
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Sunday 1st September:
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11am: Ceitidh Hutton
12pm: Lindsay Littleson
1pm: Chae Strathie
2pm: Greta Yorke
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Activities on Bonnie the Bus and Therapets, Scooter and Finn, will be around to welcome everyone!
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Isle of Arran Heritage Museum: Free Entry.
Children must be accompanied by an adult
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Visit the Wee Mac Children's Book Festival page here for more info.
All events at Wee Mac Children's Book Festival are free!
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Saturday 31st August:
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4pm: Sally Magnusson
Music in the Dark
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7pm: Alex Gray
Out of Darkness
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Sunday 1st September:
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4pm: Sara Sheridan
The Secrets of Blythswood Square
The Fair Botanists
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7pm: Alistair Moffat
The Highlands & Islands of Scotland: A New History​
Brodick Hall: £12 per event or
McLellan Book Festival Weekend Pass - £40
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Visit the Wee Mac Children's Book Festival page here for more info.
Tuesday 3rd September
Adult Dance Workshop
In this friendly workshop run by Jane Greenstreet, Chantraine Dance Teacher for over 30 years, participants will be invited into a world of movement, music and poetry and the natural world.
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​Chantraine Dance is a holistic dance approach that is suitable for all ages and abilities.
Brodick Hall 7-9pm: £9
Wednesday 4th September
Film Screening: Carla's Song
Award winning 1996 film directed by Ken Loach and starring Robert Carlyle. Carla's Song is a love story that begins on a Glasgow bus and ends in war - torn Nicaragua.
Corrie and Sannox Village Hall 7.30pm | Entry by donation
Thursday 5th September
Scottish Ensemble presents Resound
A journey through five centuries of mind-expanding music.
Programme includes…
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Danish String Quartet Shore
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Edmund Finnis String Quartet No 1 “Aloysius”
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Johannes Brahms Movement from String Quartet No 2 in A Minor
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Caroline Shaw Valencia
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Dobrinka Tabakova The Smile of the Flamboyant Wings
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Ludwig van Beethoven Movement from String Quartet No 11 in F Minor “Quartetto serioso”
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Music affects us on a profound level, it has the ability to transport and inspire but also to release and heal. Join Scottish Ensemble's violist Andrew Berridge and a quartet of musicians to explore the familiar and the new, opening our ears more widely to appreciate the full potential of what live music can do for us. With works by Brahms, Beethoven, Cristobal de Morales, Edmund Finnis, Caroline Shaw and Dobrinka Tabakova, this programme is firmly rooted in Scottish Ensemble’s belief that music can lift spirits and strengthen connections.
Whiting Bay Hall 7pm. Tickets £8-£15, Under 16's (Free)
Tickets at the door or online here
Friday 6th September
The McLellan Poetry Fringe is delighted to welcome the award winning poet, and judge of the 2023 McLellan Poetry Competition to Arran on Friday 6th September 2024.
Joelle Taylor will be presenting some of her own work, and will also be presenting a selection of the 2023 winning and commended poets, some of whom will be reading their winning entries in person.
Corrie and Sannox Village Hall 7.30pm: £12
Saturday 7th September
Children's Dance Workshop
A friendly inclusive dance experience using movement, music and nature. Suitable for children aged 7 – 11 of all abilities, led by Chantraine Dance Teacher, Jane Greenstreet.
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No experience of dance necessary. Come and have fun.
Corrie & Sannox Village Hall 10am-12pm: Free
Saturday 7th September
Poetry writing and performance workshop with award winning poet, Joelle Taylor - EVENT CANCELLED
Stonewater House 11am-12.30pm: £20
Saturday 7th September
Michaela Morgan & Jim Mackintosh with McLellan Poetry Competition 2024 winners - EVENT CANCELLED
Join us on Saturday 7th September 2024 for a wonderful evening of poetry presenting the winning and commended poets of the 2024 McLellan Poetry Competition.
The first half of the evening will be presented by the judge of the 2024 Scots Competition, the poet Jim Mackintosh. Jim will announce the winners and a number will be joining us to read their winning or commended poems, after which Jim will read some of his own entertaining Scots poetry.
Jim Mackintosh is a poet, editor, playwright and producer who has published six collections including Flipstones (Tippermuir Books, 2018) and edited or co-edited four anthologies including The Darg (Drunk Muse Press, 2019).
Corrie and Sannox Village Hall 7.30pm: £12
Sunday 8th September
Poetry workshop with Jim Mackintosh - EVENT CANCELLED
​Poetry writing workshop with poet, Jim Mackintosh at Stonewater House in Lamlash.
Limited to a maximum of ten participants
Stonewater House 11am to 12.30pm: £15
Sunday 8th September
Vivaldi's Gloria
Performance conducted by Andrew Nunn of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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​Soloists from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with the McLellan Festival Chorus.
Community Theatre Arran High School 7.30pm: £12
Wednesday 11th September
National Theatre of Scotland & Grid Iron Theatre Company - June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me
The story of one of country music's most iconic voices: June Carter Cash.
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In this raw yet uplifting show, Charlene Boyd gets to grips with a life less ordinary. More than a simple biography of June’s life and music, this play with songs sees Charlene explore her own relationship with her musical heroine and their shared experience as performers and working mothers.
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Written and performed by Charlene Boyd and directed by Cora Bissett.
Brodick Hall: 7.30pm.
Tickets at the door or online on the National Theatre of Scotland website here.
Not suitable for under 16s
