News archive Cowalfest 2006

Cowalfest gets set to enjoy biggest year yet

Cowalfest, the multi faceted ten day festival that brings outdoor activity and landscape together with all the art forms, is gearing up for its biggest year yet.  A packed programme of 83 walks, outdoor performances, cycling, wildlife, music, films, poetry and a Windowshoppers Gallery, will combine to make this Scotland’s largest festival of walking and arts when it takes place across the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll, from Friday 6 to Sunday 15 October 2006.

“With Cowalfest we are celebrating the Cowal Peninsula, a unique area both West Highland and Clyde Coast in character,” said Russell Bruce, chair of festival organisers, the Cowal Walking Festival Association.  “It draws its inspiration from our breathtaking environment, a resource for both healthy activity and a real inspiration for creativity. 

“Since it was launched in 2003, the event has grown year on year and been transformed into an extensive festival geared towards active lifestyles and enquiring minds with wide-ranging appeal.  While helping to raise the profile of the Cowal Peninsula throughout the UK and abroad, it offers a great experience for all – visitors and locals alike.”

New to the programme line up this year is the Cowalfest Film Festival bringing films of special interest and local relevance to villages throughout Cowal thanks to the mobile RBS Screen Machine 2 that has been taking cinema to remote communities since 1998.  One of the highlights will be an evening at Cairndow for a 70th anniversary screening of The Edge of the World, and talk by author, broadcaster and film-maker Michael Russell who will focus on film director, Michael Powell, and his work in Scotland.

Visitors can also enjoy walking around the Windowshoppers Gallery, which with 60 shop windows in Dunoon transformed into an art gallery displaying original prints from Dundee Contemporary Arts.  The velvety smoulder of Heather McLeod’s voice introduces jazz, blues and roots influences to the Cowalfest music programme. Heather and her Trio will share the bill with Seylan Baxter and Cheyenne Brown, a musical duo first brought together by Cowalfest last year. The traditional music programme gets the festival off to a foot tapping start on the first two evenings with Calluna and Christine Kydd.

Graded walks will range from challenging hills such as Ben Mhor to strolls around Benmore Botanic Garden, with some including performances by the Walking Theatre Company and others feature ‘food from the wild’.

Providing a central focus throughout the festival will be the Cowalfest Arts Centre, based in Dunoon town centre at St John’s Church Hall, Argyll Street, also the venue for the Craft Fair on Saturday 14 October.

Cowalfest is supported by Argyll & the Islands Enterprise, Argyll & Bute Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, VisitScotland, Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park, Awards for All, Scottish Screen, Western Ferries Tulloch Holdings and individuals, businesses, organisations and communities throughout the Cowal Peninsula.  Further information is available from VisitScotland, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, tel: 08707 200629, email: info@dunoon.visitscotland.com.

1 October 2006

Cowalfest achieves Poetry Landmark Status

The Poetry Society (UK) has accepted, the CowalfestPOETRY 2006 project - Walk with a Poet in Puck's Glen - and has registered the event under two categories in their Poetry Landmark site.

Cowalfest resident poet is Neil mac Neil who has previously worked with artist, Don McNeil, on a cross platform arts collaboration on Loch Eck which is the lead feature in the current issue of The Chapman.

CowalfestPOETRY  will be launched on National Poetry Day 5th October, in Puck’s Glen at 12.30 p.m., Neil will talk on identity (the theme of National Poetry Day), landscape and environment. He will creatively ask ‘Who We Think We Are Today’ and the impact this has on local and global environments, and crucially, on our futures. Neil will also outline opportunities individuals have to take part in the Poetry Project Programme and how each person can contribute their own creative expression through specific activities.

Puck's Glen will be the subject during Cowalfest.  Neil will join walks in Pucks Glen, and give a number of talks. Listen with your Eyes is at 15.30 on Sat 7th October in the Screen Machine at the Highgate Hall and repeated after Syd House's lecture on plant collector David Douglas at the Forestry Office at Glenbranter on Tuesday 10th October. It's Fun It's Challenging ... is the title of the second talk at 1.00 p.m.  on Monday 9th October at the Cowalfest Arts Centre.  Neil will then lead a special Poetry walk in Pucks Glen at  2.30 p.m

Anyone interested in gaining an insight into creative writing should make contact with Neil at one of the poetry events in the programme or contact the Cowalfest Arts Centre. Neil will lead a two hour poetry and creativity workshop on Wednesday 11th October at the Cowalfest Arts Centre beginning at 2.00 p.m. which we hope will attract people of all ages from 16 - 90 interested in finding out how a poet approaches his subject.

This is a unique opportunity to work with a professional poet  It is structured to suit senior pupils from the Grammar School and adults of all ages who want to find out more about how a professional writer works. The workshop is free but places are limited.

30 September 2006

Landscapes Captured

A display of photographs that capture the essence of landscapes, zooming in and out to see anew their amazing beauty is another new addition for Cowalfest 2006.

Speaking about the exhibition Cowalfest Chair, Russell Bruce, said" It is impossible to look at landscapes and ignore the human influence on how landscape is today.  It is not just those who have worked the land, farmers and foresters, for as a society we have built roads, bridges, dams and attempted to harness the elements to power our society. Yet the elements reclaim, constantly challenging man's intervention and that is one of the areas explored in our exhibition which includes abstract images of objects exposed to the elements which nature has reclaimed creating expressions of micro landscapes upon their surfaces."
Captured also are buds, flowers, seed heads, many tiny objects captured in the light of a point in time and displaying their beauty in minute detail.  Others are moody or vibrant images that express something of the emotional and creative response to Cowal and Scottish Landscapes.

Landscapes Captured is at the Highgate Hall, Strone on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th October from 11.00a.m.- 4.00 p.m. Admission is free.

25th September 2006

Cowal’s First Film Festival

In a new innovation for Cowalfest 2006 the Cowalfest committee have hired the RBS Screen Machine Take 2 for a week to show a programme of special interest and locally relevant films at locations in Strachur, Strone, Cairndow, Glendaruel and Toward plus film workshops and other events.

Speaking about the film programme, Russell Bruce, Chair of Cowalfest, told the Observer, "A remarkable film programme is being brought to Cowal as a result of collaboration between Cowalfest and Scottish Screen, Hi-Arts, STV, and The Screen Machine with specialist support from David Bruce, a former director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and local film maker, journalist and broadcaster, Michael Russell.  It has been a lot of work", added Russell, "but the enthusiasm that everyone has shown for CowalfestFILM and the inputs from busy agency officers dealing with the whole of Scotland and much bigger projects has been tremendous.

By special arrangement with STV, Cowalfest will be screening daily Chaplin's Goliath. A tribute film made about Dunoon born Eric Campbell, the great icon of screen villainy and Charlie Chaplin's bogeyman, it is narrated by Bill Paterson and includes archive footage.

Janet McBain, Archive Curator, Scottish Screen will present a special talk and show with local film from their archives on Sunday 8th at Strone. Monday 9th will see an evening devoted to the work of legendary film director, Michael Powell to commemorate his work in Scotland and to mark the 70th anniversary of the making of The Edge of the World. Powell and Pressburger's romantic film I Know Where I am Going will start the evening followed by a talk on Powell's work by David Bruce, Chair of Glasgow Film Theatre, and Michael Russell. Loch Fyne Seafood Restaurant are offering a special Dinner for filmgoers (book on 01499 600264) followed by the first screening for years of the classic Edge of the World.

Other not to be missed films in the programme are Local Hero with Burt Lancaster and Scots actors, Fulton Mckay Peter Capaldi and Rikki Fulton. Waking Ned is the hilarious story of the lottery winner who dies and his fellow Irish villagers set about ensuring that the win is not to be lost to their village as the result of an untimely death. The late Ian Bannan and ever popular James Nesbitt star in this multiple award winning production. Bill Bryden's Ill Fares the Land and Laxdale Hall dramatise aspects of Scottish Highland life. A continental influence is included with Il Postino from Italy and  Oscar winning Babette's Feast from Denmark celebrating rural life in stories that will find a resonance with Scottish audiences.

Tickets are attractively priced at £5 and £3 for children for main films and £3 for Chaplin's Goliath, workshops and talks. Tickets can be bought from Dunoon Tourist Information Centre 08707 200629. Any unsold tickets will be available at the Screen Machine on the day. A season ticket at £20 and £10 for children is a real bargain buy but numbers are limited and it is not transferable.

21st September 2006

Cowalfest Poetry project

New for Cowalfest 2006 is the Poetry Project. There will be 7 actyivities, including talks, poetry walk and a workshop. Poet-in-Residence is Neil mac Neil, spiritually from Barra, late of Greenock and now living in Spain.

The project starts with a launch on National Poetry Day, Thursday 5 October in Puck's Glen.

Click here for the full poetry programme

17th August 2006

Successful Cowalfest launch

Western Ferries' 'Sound of Scarba' sailed on a unusual voyage yesterday, carrying performers and audience and committee members on a cruise on Loch Long for the launch of the 2006 Cowalfest programme. As Gordon Ross, managing director of EWestern Ferries said: "Many are intrigued by the association of the cultural festival with walking and outdoor activities. But writers, painters, photographers, poets, sculptors, musicians and dramatists all draw inspiration from their local surroundings, and the Cowal peninsula has a natural environment that is stunning in all its forms and moods throughout the seasons."

Highlight of the festival for many will be the Screen Machine mobile cinema's visit to various locations in Cowal, but this is only a small part of the wide range of activities planned for the area in October.

A printed version of the programme is available from the Tourist Information Office in Dunoon and from many rural locations.

29th July 2006

Cowalfest takes to the water

Cowalfest, Scotland's largest walking and arts festival is taking to the water. Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd have generously donated The Sound of Scarba for a special evening sailing to launch Cowalfest 2006 and raise funds for the Cowalfest organising committee.

In a mini festival taster event, this special sailing will include music by Mike Whellans who returns from a tour of Norway to help launch Cowalfest 06, live action painting by Don McNeil, a drama performance by Sadie Dixon-Spain and an on board screen of Films of Scotland's award winning production Seaward the Great Ships.

Cowalfest is a multi faceted festival bringing outdoor activity and landscape together with all the art forms that draw inspiration from and celebrate a unique area that is both West Highland and Clyde Coast.

CowalfestWALKS, CowalfestCYCLING, CowalfestARTS Cowalfest Windowshoppers Gallery CowalfestMUSIC, CowalfestPOETRY, CowalfestFOOD, CowalfestLITERATURE, CowalfestDRAMA CowalfestFILM  and  Cowalfest Publishing are all brand names of this unique home grown festival which is raising the profile of the Cowal Peninsula throughout the UK and abroad.

This not to be missed launch event is on Wednesday 16th August and sails from Hunter's Quay at 7.00 p.m. returning  shortly after 9.00p.m. Tickets are just £10.00 and are available from Dunoon Tourist Information Centre Tel 08707 200629.

Cowalfest is supported by Argyll & the Islands Enterprise, Argyll & Bute Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, VisitScotland, Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Awards for All and individuals, businesses, organisations and communities throughout  the Cowal Peninsula.

20 March 2006

Found inside a croc

Raptors was the subject of the most interesting illustrated talk given at the recent well attended Cowalfest AGM by Dave Anderson, Conservation Manager with Forestry Commission Scotland.

Dave spoke about the raptors found in Cowal and elsewhere in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, their breeding cycles, habits and, in some cases, their reintroduction. Dave is involved in ringing these magnificent birds and keeping track of their movements. The most bizarre 'sighting' of one of Dave's ringed raptors was when an osprey one was found inside a crocodile killed in Africa.

David Marshall Lodge in Aberfoyle and Glentress, near Peebles, are two of the venues where Dave has been involved in camera and link installations to enable the public to view live coverage of osprey nests and their occupants during the breeding season. He is extremely keen for a similar system to be installed at Glenbranter to let members of the public view buzzard nests.
His audience expressed their enthusiasm for this, and hoped the finance could be found for such an attraction.

Dave finished his talk with an illustration of his two black labradors, who had walked with him for hundreds of miles around Cowal, and confirmed it was a wonderful venue for a walking festival.

Office bearers elected to the Cowalfest committee were Russell Bruce (Chair), Dorothy Bruce (Vice Chair), Anne Fiddes (Treasurer), Don McNeil, Jean Bell, Anne Craig, Mary Dayton, Ceci Alderton, Diane Wilson, Glynn Wilson, Sadie Dixon-Spain, Frieda Bos, and Mark Morpurgo. Councillor Bruce Marshall chaired the election and told the audience that Cowalfest had put Cowal on the map promoting the festival and the area in London and Ireland.
Those not standing for re-election were thanked by Russell for their valued input in making Cowalfest 2005 such a success.

The committee is now hard at work organising walks and events for 2006. Since last October's festival numerous enquiries have been received through the Cowalfest wesbite from people in the UK, Norway and the USA requesting information on Cowalfest 2006.

12 February 2006

Cowalfest  launch an expanded programme of monthly walks for 2006

Cowalfest have increased the number of walks in their monthly programme for 2006. They include favourites from the annual festival each October such as Ardentinny to Carrick Castle and Castle Toward. The first walk of the year is Innellan to Dunoon with Andy Armstrong this Sunday 19th February - meet at the West Bay Car Park,  Dunoon at 10.00 and enjoy an elevated walk through woodland overlooking the Firth of Clyde. Other walks throughout the year include  Strachur Historical, Portavadie, Rumbling Bridge, Kilmun Heritage, Glen Lean, Pucks Glen, Kilmun Arboretum, Glenbranter to Benmore, The Bernice Gap and 3 performance walks at Dunans Castle.

"Cowal offers such diversity around the Peninsula that we think it is important to encourage visitors and local people to experience our great outdoors all year round, said Russell Bruce, Chair of Cowalfest. It is always a different experience. The exercise and cameraderie is another aspect of walking in a group with a knowledgeable facilitator that we know adds to the overall enjoyment" added Russell .

There is a small booking fee of £2 for most of the walks.

Click here for full details

Media contacts

Russell & Dorothy Bruce
Chair and Vice Chair Cowalfest
The Bannachra, Blairmore, by Dunoon Argyll PA23 8TL
Tel 01369 840 488
Mobiles: Russell - 07845 984250, Dorothy - 07709 948550
Email:

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