Pittenweem Arts Festival

Sunday Parking

2011-08-14T13:22:00.003+01:00

PARKING UPDATE

Today the West Braes grass area is closed as it is still too muddy. We are now filling up the main Charles Street car park which is partially open, and then we will start filling the primary school car park.

If you have work to collect from the Open Exhibition please allow time to park. The school closure time cannot be extended so please collect before 4.30pm.

PARKING NEWS FLASH

2011-08-13T10:52:00.001+01:00

Because of the heavy rainfall this week both grassland car parks are now closed.

There is very limited parking on dry ground for about 100 cars, in Pittenweem itself.

More (limited) parking is available in Anstruther, next to the Waid Academy and in the car park across the road from the Waid.

Please use public transport where possible, sorry for the inconvenience caused.

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_12268_X58%20X60%20Fife%20.pdf

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_3860_95%20Fife.pdf

Flashcraft!

2011-08-12T14:53:00.001+01:00

Thanks to everyone who was involved in arranging the Flashcraft event on Saturday 6th throughout the village. As you can see from the video above, our volunteers did a fantastic job of transforming into human plinths! More craft from the selected artists can be seen until Sunday at 5pm in Venue 55 on South Loan.

Parking

2011-08-04T15:13:00.000+01:00

If you are planning to visit the festival this year please use the two designated car parks which are clearly signposted from the main road (West Braes & Charles Street) and are extremely close to all of the action. Coaches must park in the West Braes car park. In both car parks there are disabled toilets, and there is designated disabled parking in the Charles Street car park.

We also provide a shuttle bus, which can assist those with buggies and non motorised wheelchairs. This runs on a loop from the two car parks to the High Street and harbour approximately every 20 minutes.

Please do not take your car into the village.

Most streets are restricted to residential access only and, along with the parking cards that you will see on resident's cars, there will also be parking attendants and stewards ensuring that these rules are enforced.

Another sneak peek!

2011-08-04T14:32:00.000+01:00

Following on from yesterday's glimpse into the installation of Helen Denerley's work, we have a gorgeous image of Kate Downie's newly installed exhibition.

'Bridging the Gap' is a must see exhibition, inspired by civil engineering; head along to Venue 1 at the Old Town Hall in Pittenweem during the festival to see it. There will also be a talk by Kate at 2pm on Saturday the 6th of August. Tickets are £3 & can be purchased from the festival office in advance.

Most of these drawing are being exhibited for the first time and they are linked by a new series of colour field mono-prints made specifically for this event.

Get ready for this year's invited artists!...

2011-08-03T15:54:00.001+01:00

Today our volunteers began the install of invited artist Helen Denerley's work. Here's a sneak peek of just a few of the fantastic animal sculptures that Helen will be exhibiting on the pier this year. We can't wait to see this finished parade of creatures!

Open Exhibition

2011-07-30T17:35:00.000+01:00

Day 1 of the Open Exhibition hand-in is now over, phew! Our staff & volunteers took in over 100 entries today, with a huge variety of styles of artwork submitted at the Primary School. We will be open 12-3pm tomorrow again, but please note that, because of the size of the school hall, once we reach 200 entries we cannot accept any more. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Flashcraft (Sshhh!)

2011-07-26T15:52:00.002+01:00

Flashcraft is coming to Pittenweem Arts Festival - Saturday 6th of August 2011

Expect the unexpected, as Pittenweem premieres this new experience. It's fun, surprising, whimsical, beguiling, diverting and unmissable! Is it pret-a-porter, pret-a-craft, an exhibition or a chance for a quirky photograph?

Don't be caught on the wrong foot - keep your eyes open - craft as you've never seen it before! It all happens on the street, Saturday 6th of August.

Take a sneak peek on the new Flashcraft website: www.flashcraft.co.uk

Volunteer Centre Fife

2011-07-21T12:52:00.001+01:00

For anyone who would like some info on volunteering with us please see our newly updated Volunteer Centre Fife advert.

Raffle

2011-07-19T17:30:00.000+01:00

During the festival you can buy raffle tickets for £1 in selected artists venues. If you buy a ticket (or a few!) you could win a piece of artwork which has been donated by the artist or venue. All proceeds go to the festival and help support our activities as a registered charity.

A huge thanks have to go out to the many artists who donate work and help support the festival. A list of these artists will be on show during the festival in our office and also in our programme.

We also have a new addition to our festival office in the form of a haiku! You may remember that our community knitting group created a knitted poem for the StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews, but luckily for us it has now taken up residence in our office and is attracting lots of compliments.

Programmes Out Now!

2011-07-14T15:41:00.000+01:00

This morning our much anticipated official festival programmes arrived in to our office (all 7000 of them!). Over the next week we will be distributing them to local businesses and tourist information points, but in the meantime please drop in to our office to pick one up. The programme is £3.50 and covers all of the info you need about our exhibitions, events, workshops, children's workshops and local information.

Exciting Opportunities!

2011-07-09T15:13:00.001+01:00

Would you like to know a secret? Contact us if you're free to get involved during the day on August 3rd and 6th, we have something very exciting planned! More details available from 01333 313903 or info@pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk.

The Festival office - we're now open and happy to help!

A view of our 2010 volunteers fish display, thank you to all who helped.

We're back!

2011-07-07T23:03:00.000+01:00

The festival office has now re-opened and is ready to take your bookings & enquiries. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about this year's festival. The small festival office team will be happy to help you in any way we can & you can contact us on 01333 313903 from 10am-5pm (closed Wed & Sun).

As you may have noticed we now have a twitter page (@PittenweemFest) so please 'follow' us & show your support. You can also see some recent updates on the twitter feed here on the blog. We have a fantastic variety of artists and events this year so there is lots to look forward to!

Another knitting drop-in!

2011-06-04T13:54:00.000+01:00

Thursday 9th of June: 7-9pm

Come along to a knitting drop-in at Art @ 47, 47 High Street, Pittenweem.

Get inspired: lots of patterns for hats of all sizes, needles & yarn provided or bring your own.

All ages welcome!

From Bonnets to Berets...

2011-05-09T16:32:00.003+01:00

Your chance to be part of Pittenweem Arts Festival and help create an exhibit:

Wednesday 11th of May: 7-9pm

Come along to a knitting drop-in at Art @ 47, 47 High Street, Pittenweem.

Get inspired: lots of patterns for hats of all sizes, needles & yarn provided or bring your own.

All ages welcome!

Knitted Poem

2011-05-09T16:24:00.000+01:00

Our knitting group recently dusted off their needles to take part in the StAnza 2011, Scotland's international poetry festival in St Andrews. StAnza hosted The Poetry Society's 13x9m hand knitted knitted poem, 'In my Craft or Sullen Art' by Dylan Thomas, which was on tour to celebrate National Poetry Day. Over one thousand knitters contributed to the piece, creating individual letters which were than sewn together.

Our own knitters took inspiration from the project and decided to respond on a smaller scale, with an original knitted haiku. Our project was organised by Anne-Marijke Querido and our own knitters, with the support of The Wooly Brew from St Monans and Anstruther knitters.

The Fate of the Fireworks

2011-02-01T18:42:00.000Z

As a result of anti-social behaviour after the traditional fireworks display at the opening of the festival in 2010, the festival board have reluctantly decided that the display will not take place in 2011. In spite of the presence of police officers and security staff, the spectacular event was marred for some by alcohol fueled incidents for the third year in a row. The board is now considering alternative ways to celebrate the opening day.

Online Festival Newsletter

2011-02-01T18:31:00.002Z

With our newsletter you can keep up to date with the latest news and info from the Pittenweem Arts Festival. Thank you to Barbara Fleming for her work with its production. Pittenweem residents will receive the newsletter through their letterboxes in the near future.

Apply Now for our Bursary Awards!

2011-02-01T18:18:00.003Z

Pittenweem Arts Festival is Fife's major visual arts event, attracting over 25,000 visitors each August. These include art buyers, gallery owners and those in search of new talent. It is an ideal opportunity for artists to meet the public and showcase their work. As part of our commitment to encouraging promising new artists, each year we award two bursaries aimed particularly at artists who, for financial reasons, could not consider taking part in the Festival. The bursary awards are limited to artists who can show a connection to Fife.

Each bursary award has a total value of around £700
• a rent -free exhibition venue
• no exhibitor's registration fee
• £200 for expenses

Applications are accepted from:
• Final year students from any Scottish School of Art
• Graduates of the last 5 years from any Scottish School of Art

The award winners will be selected by the Festival's Visual Arts Committee.
The dates for the 2011 Festival are Sat August 6 to Sun August 14 and the deadline for bursary award applications is March 1st 2011.
More details an application forms here
All enquiries to: 01333 313903

Fireworks

2010-08-10T20:09:00.000+01:00

Thank you to all who donated and to everyone who volunteered during the fireworks on Saturday the 7th. A grand total of £1771.62 was raised from donations on the night.

Tea Cosy Deadline

2010-07-31T15:35:00.003+01:00

Huge thanks go out to the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) in Stirling. Today we received a surprise package from the programme's Forth Valley knitters who kindly donated 30 tea cosies for our exhibition!

If you would like to donate a tea cosy please hand it into the festival office within the next couple of days. The official deadline is August 1st.

Thank you!

Saturday 7th of August

2010-07-26T22:27:00.005+01:00

Image © Craig Davidson

As always this year's events will officially kick off on the first Saturday evening of August, when we welcome locals and visitors to join in with the spectacle of the opening evening and mark the return of the Pittenweem Arts Festival.

The evening starts with a formal opening down at the harbour by our patron Sir Menzies Campbell. Then you are free to enjoy the atmosphere, maybe buy a glowstick or an ice-cream, and hear the frenzied mix of Celtic drumming and pipes by this year's visiting musicians Clanadonia.

One of the highlights any visitor's experience is taking part in the torchlight procession through the village. Look for the stand down by the fishmarket where over-18s can purchase a ticket for just £4. To avoid disappointment make sure you get there early as these tickets always sell out and numbers are limited.

At 9.15pm the procession will wind its way through the village to the fantastic fireworks display by Blast Design on the outer pier. Fireworks start at approximately 10.15pm, concluding about 10.30pm.

Our kind volunteer collectors will be standing by with their yellow vests and buckets to take any donations, which go towards helping us host such fantastic events such as this, so please give generously.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Programmes and Tickets

2010-07-19T17:35:00.007+01:00

Things are starting to get busy in the office this week with the arrival of our official festival 2010 programmes. This year's cover features our principal invited artist, the Dovecot Studios. The programme lists all of the info you need to know about Pittenweem, our exhibiting artists and venues, and our many events and workshops.

This year we have an exciting variety of performances, live music events, facilitated walks, visual arts workshops and children's activities. Make sure you contact us early to book tickets as many of our popular events sell out in advance.

Tickets and programmes can be purchased from our lovely staff in the festival office: simply call us, email us or just pop in for a visit! During the festival you can pick up a programme from various businesses, galleries and sales points throughout the village.

Lady Walk Exhibition

2010-07-15T11:21:00.003+01:00

From back (left to right): Christine, Margaret, Nan, Ruby, Margo, Danny, front row Euan, Jim

Last month the Pittenweem Arts Festival hosted an exhibition of artwork by local residents who attend an art group at Lady Walk house in Anstruther. Lady Walk is a home that provides residential and respite services as well as day care for older people.

The art group meet for two hours a week where they are encouraged to take part in various activities such as art and craft workshops, which are organized by Anita Hutchison, a visiting art lecturer from Elmwood college in Cupar.

The artists include Jim Black, Hilda Goodwin, Ruby Hughes and Margo Watson from Pittenweem and Daniel McConnell and Euan Colquhaun from Elie. Pictured are the contributing artists on a recent visit to Pittenweem Arts Festival Office where they enjoyed morning coffee and were rewarded with a certificate for their efforts by Anita.

Volunteer Appeal!

2010-07-09T16:53:00.004+01:00

Do you have a few hours to spare between the 6th-15th of August?

Every year we rely on our generous volunteers who help us in all aspects of running our festival; everything from setting up exhibitions, helping with our events and selling programmes to the more adventurous tasks!

(See one of our directors Jan-Karel helping at last year's festival - costume by Maggie Moffat)

There is a huge amount of effort that goes into the running of all our activites, and even if you can only volunteer for a few hours we appreciate any time you can give us.

If you would like to get involved please contact the festival office on 01333 313903 or email info@pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk

Thank you

Tea-Cosies

2010-07-05T14:54:00.004+01:00

After the huge success of the fish exchange in 2009, we have been working on a new community project on the theme of tea-cosies. Every month our talented group of knitters have been meeting in the festival office to create a whole new batch of tea party related items.

Our chosen charity this year is Macmillan Cancer Support, who are the annual hosts of the 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning', and improve lives by providing support to people affected by cancer.

We have already started to gather in some completed knitted items from our group but as always we would love to welcome any donated tea-party themed craft items from the public so that we can sell these and raise as much money as possible for MacMillan. Hopefully, with everyone's hard work, we will be able to match the amazing display of last year's fish exchange!

If you have any craft items based on the theme of a 'tea party' that you would like to donate please get in touch with our festival office who would love to hear from you.

Phone: 01333 313903

Email: info@pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk

Post: 47 High Street, Pittenweem, Fife, KY10 2PG

Fish Auction

2010-07-03T14:47:00.008+01:00

In case you missed last year's festival here are some images of our fish auction, which raised a fantastic £1700 for the RNLI (see: www.anstrutherlifeboat.org.uk/news).

A big thank you to all of our knitters in the community and elsewhere, who worked very hard to create 243 knitted fish for our display on the pier which were successfully auctioned off during the festival. This event could not have taken place without the hard work of everyone involved, especially Anne-Marijke Querido who co-ordinated the knitting sessions and fish display.

Welcome!

2010-07-03T14:31:00.002+01:00

Welcome to the new official blog of the Pittenweem Arts Festival!

Our festival office is now open and ready for business. Please feel free to call or email us to buy tickets or to find out more about what's on. The festival brochure will be available later this month, until then you can find details on all of our artists and events on our website www.pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk

We will update this blog throughout July and August so you can look forward to hearing about what's going on in preparation for the festival, which runs August 7th - 15th this year.