Since 1979 the Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival has been the bedrock of our organisation’s identity and activities, and will continue to be so. We also respond to community-led initiatives across the region and help them develop bespoke festive celebrations which they would like to initiate, experience and enjoy.
Includes OAUK Member Oceanallover with The Sailmaker’s Palm on 30th & 31st May
This is a story about salt and sails, about the persistence of mystery, transmutation and transcendence. It is an allegorical
tale told through music, dance, costume and words. It follows a sailmaker and a salter on a journey to find a release from the
structures and strictures of their lives.
Sail making and salt panning have both been very vital crafts for coastal communities. Salt was essential for survival, helping to preserve food during winter months and maintaining a basic level of health and cleanliness. Sails allowed people to catch the wind and use its power to help with fishing, trade and travel, linking communities in areas where travel by land was difficult and
dangerous.
The Sailmaker’s Palm is a discussion of boundaries, looking at the tensions between differing states of awareness. Salt, water and air have cycled through changes across the geology of our Earth for years without number. Humanity is part of that cycle, the water and minerals in our body are what life is made from.
