We're delighted to announce that the 2019 Guide to Scotland's Festivals, produced by The List in partnership with Creative Scotland and VisitScotland, is now published and out in the world.
In this blog, our Marketing Officer Lewis explains why the guide is an essential publication for those who keep a keen eye on the country's cultural calendar.
While many spend the winter months warming themselves by open fires, gathering with loved ones, Creative Scotland staff are hard at work. Along with our partners at the List and VisitScotland, we see out the year squinting by candlelight as we assemble the annual Guide to Scotland’s Festivals, taking pause only to gnaw on a solitary Brussels sprout.
Come January, we find ourselves in a celebratory frame of mind. The guide’s reached completion, while the Celtic Connections Festival is in full swing and providing the perfect platform from which to serve up the fruits of our labour. As performers and audiences from all over the world are drawn to Glasgow’s vibrant roots music programme, we’re reminded of the very activity the publication is intended to celebrate.
Scotland has always punched above its weight in terms of its artistic output. Like the country itself, the guide is compact but bursting at the seams with world class content. It offers a near comprehensive breakdown of the festivals staged across Scotland, from grassroots community-focused affairs to large-scale international showcases, and covers all disciplines and genres including Art, Comedy, Community, Family, Film, Heritage, Literature, Music, Outdoor, Politics, Science, Theatre & Dance.
The publication is helmed by The List, while Creative Scotland and VisitScotland oversee representation of their respective interests – arts and culture, and tourism. The List’s efforts with respect to the guide are tireless and far reaching. An eye is always trained on the next issue, with new listings and changes collated as the year gets underway. Though the guide strives to be as comprehensive a picture of things as they stand each winter, in a country as dynamic as Scotland, it can never be anything more than a snapshot and work in progress.
Copies of the guide are distributed as a supplement with the first edition of The List magazine each year and others are made available across London. The guide is also distributed by VisitScotland and Creative Scotland to key cultural and visitor hotspots across the country, ranging from museums to shopping centres.
Read more about the guide at list.co.uk/guides/scotlands-festivals/.
