We have free workshops, performances and talks happening across the site throughout the weekend!
A’ Bruidhinn Gàidhlig Speaking Gaelic
Learn some simple Gaelic phrases and words with Mark of Awry fame! Suitable for all levels.
When: Friday
Where: Taigh
Art As Action with Brenna Quinlan
Using creative practice for regenerative climate and environmental action.
When: Friday
Where: Taigh
Bum Notes Workshop
Heck it’s Sunday, we have played all the good notes, let’s find some nasty, new, fun or scrumptious ones to play in the Bum Notes Workshop.
When: Sunday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Carsphairn Hedgehog Sanctuary
Learn about hedgehogs and what to do if you find one injured.
When: Sunday
Where: Disgee Centre
Coastal Sámi Joik, with Torgeir Vassvik
Mountain, Sky, Ocean, Voice
When: Saturday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
Creative Windchimes
Get creative and make a beautiful set of windchimes from recycled materials.
When: Friday & Sunday
Where: Taigh
Crystal Suncatchers
Drop-in workshop for adults and kids. Make a crystal sun catcher to hang in your window – it will cast rainbows on your walls when the sun shines! Spend a peaceful 15 minutes finding beads and treasures to create your unique sun catcher. Donation £2 to cover materials.
When: Friday & Saturday
Where: Tallyn
Deughside Village
Here you’ll find the yurt village, healing area and sauna. Come to find therapeutic massage, oil massage, Thai massage, shiatsu, sports and remedial massage, chair massage, feather stone healing, reiki, or relax and get squeaky clean with the sauna.
Where: Near the Disgee Centre
Donkeys
Meet the Knockengorroch donkeys, Howar, Kief and Jill!
When: Saturday & Sunday
Where: Disgee Centre
English Tune Session
Come along to play, learn, share and join in with some excellent traditional tunes from across the border.
When: Friday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Free Your Voice, with Eve Goodman
A gentle and embodied session of sounding, breath and movement to bring awareness into the body and explore our voices as a group. This session will offer a welcoming space for vocal expression and release. We will then learn to sing some simple songs together, including a Welsh one, and bathe in the resonance of group singing.
When: Saturday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
Family Capoeira
Capoeira is a martial art and dance developed by Brazilian slaves to practice their fighting skills in disguise. Come join us to learn some funky moves, kicks and mild acrobatics; play an instrument and sing. A workshop aimed for adults and children alike!
When: Saturday & Sunday
Where: Tallyn
Feral Sangs – Becoming a Creature in the Scots Tongue, with Kirsty Law
In this workshop learn about ancient songs from the Scots language traditions in which the singer takes on animal form – take part in a discussion about why these songs have come into being and learn to sing them.
When: Sunday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
Forró Dance
A Brazilian partner dance to Forró music, characterised by its energetic rhythms, often featuring the accordion, bass drum, and triangle. The workshops, led by Andrea Torres Viedma, will feature live music from Forró band The Brizz, to get you ready for their set just afterwards in the Shieling!
When: Saturday
Where: Tallyn
Gàidhlig Song with Ewan Macintyre
Learn some simple and beautiful Gaelic songs with Ewan Macintyre. From pipe tunes to mouth music and ballads and more. No previous knowledge of Gaelic necessary – though you are most welcome if you do!
When: Saturday
Where: Tallyn
Galloway and East Ayrshire Biosphere
Biodiversity and cultural heritage from biosphere officer Antoine Lemaire
When: Saturday
Where: Disgee Centre
Galloway’s Dark Skies
Hear more about our UNESCO dark skies status and don’t forget to join Dark Skies ranger Jesse Beaman for some star gazing around the site later. Stargazing Scotland run astronomy workshops in the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park, Jesse will be bringing his 12″ reflector to Knockengorroch for views of the summer sky.
When: Saturday
Where: Disgee Centre
Georgian Singing
An exquisite workshop to learn three-part harmonies and shiver-inducing polyphonic songs. Songs will be taught by ear and sung by exploring body vibration and voice resonance.
When: Friday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Good Times Theme Time Music Sessions
Join the good times theme time music sessions on tour as we attempt to fill an entire session with songs, tunes and occasional spoken word pieces which relate to our chosen theme of “DRINK”.
When: Saturday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Gigantic Bubble Fun with The Bubble Whisperer
Create massive wibbly wobbly bubbles, learn how to create big bubble donuts, do bubbles inside bubbles, and create cellular alien bubble monsters with the ‘beastie’ bubble nets!
When: Friday
Where: Tallyn
Growing a Local Food Ecosystem
Come learn about composting and food waste with Roz who will also be planting up the polytunnel with kale and other seedlings and learning about plant identification across the site. With Propagate.
When: Sunday
Where: Disgee Centre
Headset Disco
A wide choice of music and DJs to dance away into the night on Friday and Saturday night, through headphones. Perfect for little ones’ ears!
When: Friday & Saturday
Where: Tallyn
Hometown
Playwright and actor Andy Paterson brings us a collection of original stories and songs about the raw, intimate moments that define who we are and where we come from. Adult themes and language.
When: Saturday & Sunday
Where: Taigh
Ice & Fire
‘Papers’: Testimonies of migrants impacted by the No Recourse to Public Funds condition and the 10 year route to settlement introduced by the government in 2012 under the banner of ‘the hostile environment’.
‘Tales from a Hostile Environment’: More than a decade on from the introduction of the so-called ‘hostile environment’ this script looks at the impact of policies such as the minimum income requirement, the 10-year route to settlement and the challenges of being undocumented in the UK today.
When: Friday & Saturday
Where: Taigh
Indian Head Massage
This ancient practice has been shown to reduce tension, improve circulation, and promote a sense of well-being in both the mind and body. Whether you’re on your own or want to woo a partner on the fields, this workshop promises skills and relaxation.
When: Friday & Sunday
Where: Tallyn
Knockengorroch Mod!
Our very own wee celebration of Gaelic language and culture. Register at the festival office if you have a song or a poem you’d like to share. Come join the fun!
Thig is comharraichibh cànan na Gàidhlig leinn! Clàraibh aig oifis na fèise le òran neo dàn a tha sibh airson sgaoileadh. Nach tig sibh ann?
When: Sunday
When: Taigh
Learn More About Joik, with Kari Heimen
Joik is an ancient vocal tradition from Sápmi. Kari will take you through some of the characteristics of the joik. You will also meet Goavddis – the Sami drum. And if you feel like it, you might learn a joik or two during the session.
When: Friday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
Māori Music Workshop, with Rob Thorne
Rob will introduce his Māori instruments individually, play them and discuss their heritage and function, explaining the way the Māori revival rolled out, ensuring not just survival but renaissance.
When: Sunday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
MELT
A unique and gentle, recuperative series of movements using balls and foam rollers that works on your nervous system, breath, and connective tissue. It helps reduce the risk of repetitive injury whilst making you feel fantastic! Hosted by Dr Mary-Jane Andersen.
When: Saturday & Sunday
Where: Tallyn
Muckle Gype Theatre
Muckle Gype Theatre, formerly known as Ramblers Teatro, is a performing arts company specialising in immersive and interactive theater experiences. Their productions often incorporate elements of local folklore and contemporary issues, engaging audiences in thought-provoking narratives.
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
When: Taigh
Music as Resistance and Healing, with Olivia Garelja
How can music be a tool for resisting colonial legacies while fostering healing and reconciliation within and between our cultures? Olivia is the Director of Creative Northland in Whangārei, New Zealand, where she focuses on fostering cultural exchange, creative sustainability and strategic development within Tai Tokerau.
When: Sunday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
North Indian Classical Dance
Kathak is a prominent dance style from North India. Get barefoot and let Dana teach you how to rhythmically stamp your feet, move your arms gracefully and pirouette in all kinds of ways!
When: Friday & Sunday
Where: Tallyn
Open Music Sessions
All are welcome at the music session in the Wierdstrings acoustic tent, bring yourself, instruments, good voice and good cheers to make magic moments. Add to the experience. Join in, relax, listen, laugh, applaud, doze.
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Parcival and the Fisher King
Join storyteller Owen Pilgrim fresh from his pilgrimage from St Andrew’s to Iona to share with you his interpretation of Parcival and the Fisher King, a tale told for over 1000 years.
When: Saturday
Where: In Tchai-Ovna
Permaculture: A Rhymer’s Manual – with Formidable Vegetable
Armed with a ukulele and a passion for creatively crushing the metacrisis through positive hands-in-the-dirt action, Formidable Vegetable presents an inspiring and thought-provoking introduction to the principles of permaculture and how to apply them to your work, life and garden.
When: Sunday
Where: Tallyn
Poi and Waiata (song), with Huia Hamon
Poi come from Māori traditional dance and song. In this workshop learn poi actions and easy Māori songs. Find out what poi was traditionally used for, how it’s evolved and how Māori use it in performances.
When: Friday
Where: Tallyn
Pond Dipping with Tilly
Come and visit the pond at Knockengorroch. We’ll look for dragonfly nymphs, newts, Greater diving beetle larvae, tadpoles, and more. All ages welcome… come on, give it a go!
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Where: The pond
Scandi Tune Session
Time to play dark and some twisted folk dance tunes from Scandinavia.
When: Saturday
Where: Wierdstrings Tent
Star Gazing
Discover the stars in one of the darkest skies in the world, UNESCO designated, with Dark Skies ranger Jesse Beaman and his professional long range telescope.
When: Sunday
Where: Meet at the Longhouse
Stone Stacking
European Land Art Festivals and James Craig Page. Find them on the River Deugh near the healing area, with fire cairns to be lit over the weekend.
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Where: By the river at the Healing Area
Stories While You Wait
Have your unique story, on any subject, written for you by Luke Winter, using a typewriter, right in front of you.
When: Saturday & Sunday
Where: Freestanding
Tai Chi
Learn about the ancient practice of Tai Chi and what it can do for you. Starting with explanation and live demonstration, you will then be guided through the basics to gain an Authentic Tai Chi experience, leading up to a demonstration of the entire solo form.
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Where: Tallyn
The Big Sing Together with Chandra Mather
Learn songs from around the world in this singing workshop with experienced facilitator and performer, Chandra Mather.
When: Friday & Saturday
Where: Acoustic Sessions Tent
The Craft Village
Two Shires Craft Group, Greenheart, Festival Masons, Wool ‘n’ Apples’, Galloway & East Ayrshire Biosphere, Hey Clay Pottery. Join a workshop and get creative!
When: Either drop in or see boards for timings
Where: Behind the Longhouse
Tribal Drumming
Open to all ages and abilities. Come and join in and share in the magic of making music together. Bring your own drum or we have a selection for you to choose from.
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Where: Taigh
Waulking Songs, with Deirdre Graham
Òrain Luaidh (waulking songs) are Scottish folk songs, traditionally sung in the Gaelic language by women whilst waulking (fulling / beating) cloth.
When: Friday
Where: The Long Song Bell Tent
Wellbeing in a Climate Emergency
How to manage the complex emotions associated with climate change and biodiversity loss. This workshop, with award winning social enterprise Rowan Environmental Arts, supports people to work together, inspiring a collective and regenerative approach to climate action, with wellbeing at the core. We will share ideas that build resilience, create a sense of calm and leave participants feeling empowered to work together. There will be space and time to get creative using natural materials, ask questions, enjoy seasonal foraged tea, sky gaze and share ideas with each other.
When: Saturday
Where: Meet at Tallyn
Wild Craft
Join a Wild Craft workshop to make natural paint from soils, berries, flowers, and coffee. Use shells, feathers, and sticks as tools to create vibrant designs on fabric, bark, and paper.
When: Friday & Saturday
Where: Tallyn
