Dementia-Friendly Arts Festival Edinburgh

Dementia-Friendly Arts Festival Edinburgh | Deepness Dementia gallery image 3

Dementia-Friendly Arts Festival Edinburgh | Deepness Dementia gallery image 4

Get Involved Today

Whether you're looking to participate or looking to attend, we'd love to hear from you! Get in touch today.

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Directors Danced
Ron Coleman 2022

“And we watched as Directors Danced

Poetry in motion

And the members painted, sculpted and drew

And installations were made

And the children played

And the members sang and took photos

Boys will be boys as they contrived new conversations

And how everyone laughed

And weavers weaved a tapestry of tales

Songs were sung, tales were told, films were made

Women renewed our communities' divine splendour

And crafty crofters created crafted delights one more time

And a demented festival was born.”

Our Aim

We'll be working with partners across the Western Isles (Barra, Benbecula, Lewis, North Uist), Caithness and Ullapool and three researchers – Kirsten Broadfoot (Sterena Consultancy) and two from Deepness. Together, we will explore the impact of participation in creative activities on experiences of agency, autonomy and mental wellbeing, for people with a lived experience of dementia and their unpaid supporters.

Participants in the project will work in group or individual creative disciplines, to explore and document their dementia stories auto-ethnographically. The disciplines on display will vary across multiple different sites. They will include but are not restricted to:

Music
Movement
Dance
Crafting
Painting
Poetry
Printing
Sculpting
Multi-media Installations

What's Happening

After the huge success of our Dementia Arts Festival in Inverness, 2023, which was the FIRST dementia arts festival ever in Scotland, we are planning the Scottish Dementia Arts Festival 2024, taking place in Edinburgh. The dates are Monday 11th to Thursday 14th November 2024.

We are currently looking for participants to take part to with a performance, film, visual arts, crafts or a workshop. Closing Date for submissions Tuesday 30th July.

Take Part

Check out the video below which was the trailer for our 2023 Dementia Arts Festival:

Trailer - Dementia Arts Festival 2023

Get Involved With the Festival!

Deepness Dementia Arts Festival Edinburgh is gearing up for November 2024.

We're always looking for new acts, plays, films, musicians and other creatives to get involved and share their talent! The best news? If you have dementia or are a family member or supporter of someone who does, it's completely free!

Take Part