Perthshire Open Studios Festival

Please note, this activity is different from the Perthshire Creative Trail, which is also run by POS but is open all year round.

Back by popular demand but focusing on “meeting the maker”. After a lengthy consultation, we are trying to reflect the majority opinions with dates and formats. The Perthshire Open Studios Festival will be held each year over the second weekend in September. From the Thursday to the Monday of that weekend would be the core opening times for participants (5 days). Rather than prescriptive routes that imply an order of visits, the five economic zones of Perthshire (Central, Eastern, Highland, Perth and Western Districts) will be used for mapping and sponsorship purposes.

The Festival will be launched at The Bield with an exhibition of participants’ work from Wednesday 6th to Monday 11th September 2023.

All the materials that have been used in the past will be made available, including bunting, banners, signage, marketing pack, alongside a printed brochure, advertising and a website. This will be in addition to activities focused around the second weekend in September which might include:

  • Shop window exhibitions – done very successfully in Blairgowrie and Dunkeld
  • Hosting of artists in galleries and businesses – very successfully done at Persie Gin and the Artisanand Gallery in Aberfeldy
  • Where participants can’t invite people into their workspace, joint events can be held that include “meet the maker” activities – including school visits, workshops and presentations by artists.

We recognise that not all activities will be only for that weekend, and we hope that the brochure, and particularly the website, can be as inclusive as possible. Each district area will be able to join together to create local publicity and events and, by using the “second weekend of September” we will be able to reuse banners and other materials. We are looking for sponsors for each area, places to eat and advertising. We also hope that local organisers will come forward to work with us. Promotion of the event will take place throughout the year, in tandem with the Perthshire Creative Trail, but obviously peaking in the run-up to the second weekend in September.

Participants

To be included in the Festival, each participant must be a member of POS (£50) and there will be a £65 registration fee for the Festival itself. Participants will receive signage, but a banner will be at additional cost. A participant must either be opening their studio or sharing a space with others and holding “meet the maker” or creativity workshops.

  • If artists get together in one location, each artist needs to be a member but only one Festival registration fee needs to be paid.
  • For art clubs, the coordinator needs to pay one POS membership and one Festival registration fee.
  • Participants in the all-year-round Perthshire Creative Trail are automatically registered for the Festival without a further fee.