This is your ultimate guide to what’s on in Scotland this September, from literary and design festivals to fair fashion events and guided adventures through the Scottish countryside
Dundee Design Festival
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When: Monday 23rd – Sunday 29th September
Where: Various venues across Dundee
This is one of Scotland’s biggest national celebrations of design. For one week only, you can enjoy free exhibitions, workshops, talks and events and see the work of more than 180 designers all under one roof at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, in the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design, Dundee.
Discover contemporary design from the most exciting designers, makers and dreamers across furniture, interiors, jewellery, homewares, craft, graphics, textiles and apparel, including immersive experiences from Timorous Beasties, Donna Wilson, Gabriella Marcella and AdesignStorie.
Visit the Dundee Design Festival website to find out more about tickets and programmes
Fair Fashion Festival
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When: Until 30th September
Where: Various locations across Glasgow Southside
The Fair Fashion Collective brings sustainable fashion and textiles to the Southside of Glasgow.
The festival, hosted in various locations across the city, brings events such as vintage swaps, screen printing, sustainable pop ups and embroidery workshops to people across Scotland.
From mending workshops and to making African headbands with Nephtali Couture, there’s something for everyone at this planet-first festival.
Visit the Fair Fashion Collective website to find out more
Hebridean Whisky Festival
When: 12th – 14th September
Where: Torabhaig Distillery, Isle of Skye
It’s time to start planning your next whisky festival! The Hebridean Whisky Festival is returning with another sensory-pleasing, adventure-thrilling, island-hopping, week-long event celebrating the single malt Scotch whisky distilleries along the Hebridean Whisky Trail. The Festival will culminate in our Finale on Saturday, September 14th, and will be hosted by Torabhaig on the Isle of Skye.
Visit the Hebridean Whisky Festival website to find out more
Lannan Bakery x Elliott’s Pop-up
When: 26th September, from 8am
Where: Lannan Bakery, Hamilton Place, Edinburgh
Lannan, Darcie Maher’s Stockbridge bakery, will host a pop-up by Jess Elliott Dennison, food writer and founder of Elliott’s, in celebration of Jess’s new book Midweek Recipes.
On the counter will be autumnal bakes from Midweek Recipes, including:
- Marmalade toast sponge pudding
- Lemon Madeleines
- Treacle fig loaf with Alp Blossom cheese
- Earl Grey prune clafoutis
- Brown butter and rosemary apple cake
Guests will also be able to purchase signed copies of the book, Elliott’s jam, preserves and kitchenware. The bakes will be available from 8am to sell out.
Wigtown Book Festival with Kate Humble, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson
When: 27th September – 6th October
Where: Dumfries & Galloway
The Wigtown Book Festival will open with an appearance by the legendary performance poet Pam Ayres and conclude with an appearance by two of Scotland’s best-known actors, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson.
Other recognisable authors include:
- Naturalist, gardener and TV presenter Kate Humble
- Welsh singer-songwriter Cerys Matthew
- Novelist and author of Trainspotting Irvine Welsh
- Channel 4 International Editor Lyndsey Hilsum
- Host of the BBC’s blockbuster paranormal podcast and TV series Uncanny, Danny Robins
- Children’s author Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin
- Winner of the Waterstones Childrens Book Award 2024 Pari Thomson
New this year will be the introduction of a “festival-within-a-festival” dedicated to food, featuring three days of talks, interviews and demonstrations, from 4th to 6th October. For the food proceedings, guest programmer Coinneach MacLeod (aka the The Hebridean Baker) will be joined by among others Masterchef finalist Sarah Rankin and Great British Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins.
Visit the Wigtown Book Festival website for tickets to this year’s event
Stranraer Oyster Festival
When: Friday 13th – Sunday 15th September
Where: Stranraer, Dumfries & Galloway
Calling all seafood lovers! This Scottish seaside food festival is for you.
Stranraer Oyster Festival doesn’t just celebrate seafood, it celebrates the culture around it. Throughout the weekend, you will have access to live cooking demonstrations from TV chefs Julie Lin and Jimmy Lee as well as Green Michelin Star-holder Pam Brunton – and many more.
There are competitions and stalls offering access to some of the best seafood produce in Scotland, with samples and How Tos available throughout the weekend.
Visit the Stranraer Oyster Festival website for tickets and programmes
Seconds & Samples Market
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When: Saturday 28th – Sunday 29th September, from 11am – 4pm
Where: The Pyramid at Anderston, Argyle Street, Glasgow
SPOT is hosting its yearly Seconds & Samples market at The Pyramid in Anderston this September, featuring stalls of artists and makers from the world of ceramics, print, beauty and clothing. Some favourites for the event include:
- Seilich Botanicals all-natural skincare
- Irregular Sleep Pattern bed linens
- Mack Studio photography
- Jennifer Kent knitwear
- Megan Makes ceramics
- Fun Makes Good home furnishings
Walk the ‘Linen Pilgrims Way’ at FlaxFest24
When: Until Saturday 28th September
Where: Dunfermline, Fife
Celebrate the history and future of linen and flax in Scotland as you wander along Fife’s ‘Linen Pilgrims Way’, leading to five days of events in Linen City Dunfermline, with walks, workshops, talks and exhibitions.
Mapped by flax fields, you will travel along riverbanks and coasts on 90-minute walks along the Way. Sharing stories in some of Scotland’s most beautiful landscapes, you can embrace the regenerative powers of nature as they walk.
The events line-up features hands-on workshops to help you see products grow from seed to shelf, with a chance to scutch and heckle, dye, spin and weave.
Sunday Specials continue the journey in gorgeous green spaces around the places that are home to flax and linen culture in Fife all year round.
Visit the FlaxFest24 website to find more information
The Braemar Literary Festival
When: Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd September
Where: The Fife Arms, Braemar
Now is the time to turn the page on your next big adventure!
Visit the storybook setting of the Fife Arms for a weekend celebrating the power and quiet beauty of the written and spoken word – and the creative use of text across all artforms. Connecting bibliophiles of all ages with heartfelt readings from the authors who penned the words and a forum to engage in spirited discussion, this events stands proudly as part of the new Scottish cultural scene.
The line-up includes:
- Braemar Literary Festival Launch Dinner by Tom Kitchin
- Tom Parker Bowles in conversation with Matthew Fort
- Kate Mosse on 30 Years of the Women’s Prize for Fiction
- Jessie Burton in conversation with Vicki Perrin, CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room
- Frances Morris and Fiona Bradley: The Life and Work of Artist Phyllida Barlow
- Jon Sopel, renowned British journalist, in conversation with Sally Magnusson
- Ken Follett in conversation with Vicki Perrin, CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room
Visit the Braemar Literary Festival website for tickets
Love Song by Alison McWhirter at Russell Gallery
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When: Until Saturday 28th September
Where: Russell Gallery, London
Scottish painter Alison McWhirter is taking her work to London after a string of successful exhibitions in Scotland and beyond, including Lift Others Up at intimate West End gallery KUDIRKA in Glasgow.
Alison took to Instagram to say, “I’m feeling excited as the work comes together for my solo exhibition at Russell Gallery in London. I’ve tried to recreate visually the busy and lively energy that is the London market whilst settling in to my calm and spacious studio in Solway. The two worlds couldn’t be more different but I love being in both.”
Follow Alison McWhirter on Instagram | Visit the Russel Gallery website for details
See more Scottish cultural insights below.
Great British Sewing Bee’s Ailsa Lyall on sustainability in the Scottish fashion industry
