Festival 2024
The To Absent Friends festival took place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2024.
It was an opportunity to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died. To Absent Friends, a People’s Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create new ones.
Below is a list of the events that took place.
Forget Me Not
Organised by Women’s Aid Orkney
2 and 3 November 2024
Orkney
This activity is not open to the public.
Women’s Aid Orkney are offering a ‘forget me not’ session for the children & young people within their service. The group will take place within their confidential office space and allow a safe & welcoming space to discuss some of life’s trickier transitions and feelings around loss and grieving those most important to them. We are planning to offer a few activity options such as; Fire pit in Garden where will be writing wishes to lost love ones & having hot chocolate & toasted marshmallows, Skull tealight holders to link with other cultures, i.e Day of the Dead, glass stones to decorate for loved ones & forget me not seed bombs to take home and plant in memory of someone.
This event is supported by a To Absent Friends small grant.
To Absent Friends Concert
Organised by Edinburgh Brass Band
Saturday 2nd November 2024, 7:30pm-9:30pm
St John’s Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Edinburgh Brass Band have performed a free concert as part of the To Absent Friends festival every year since it launched. We hope you will be able to join the band once more to celebrate and remember people we love who have died.
Taking inspiration from and honouring absent friends, Edinburgh Brass Band will perform a selection of reflective and inspiring music. This year’s concert will be in the band’s home venue, St John’s Church in Edinburgh’s West End. The church provides the perfect backdrop and a stunning acoustic for this performance.
Book your free place on Eventbrite.
Portobello ‘To Absent Friends’ Remembrance Beach Campfires
Organised by Action Porty in collaboration with life celebrant Loretta Dunn
Saturday 2nd November, 2pm to 4pm
Foot of Bellfield Street, by the Swimming Pool and the ‘Wee Green Van’, Portobello Beach, Portobello
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Join us for a heartfelt afternoon of storytelling and remembrance in honor of loved ones who have passed away. Now in its fifth year, this special gathering offers an opportunity for healing as we share memories, photos, and stories around campfires. Decorate a stone in memory of your loved one and place it in the sea as the event draws to a close.
This event is free but ticketed – book now: https://cutt.ly/AbsentFriendsPorty
Let’s come together to remember, share, and heal. All are welcome, no matter where you are on your grief journey.
Image credit: Jessie MacLeod
COWL Remembers
Organised by Carers of West Lothian
Saturday 2nd November
Carers of West Lothian, Sycamore House, Quarrywood Court, West Lothian EH54 5HW
This activity is for the Carers of West Lothian community.
Our To Absent Friends event will take place on Saturday 2nd November. This will be our first time taking part and it will be open to all bereaved carers within our organisation, where they can pay their respects and honour their loved ones. The event will consist of planting a rose bush, providing a feature within our garden specifically for remembrance to those loved ones no longer with us, and listening to a playlist of their favourite songs. Following this we will then come together over lunch where the conversations and memories will continue to be shared in an emotionally safe, compassionate, and familiar setting.
This event is supported by a To Absent Friends small grant.
Yoga For The Dead
Organised by The Kali Collective Yoga Studio
Saturday 2nd November, 4:00-6:00pm
The Kali Collective Yoga Studio, Unit 203, 54 Washington St, Glasgow G3 8AZ
This event is open to the public.
“Awareness of Death is the very bedrock of the path” the Dalai Lama
You are invited to a unique and reflective evening of sound, movement, and ritual to honour those who have passed beyond the veil. Let Steph Wall, Laura Wright guide you in practice, music and mantra. Join us for an evening of community and support to allow us to sit in those uncomfortable spaces and find comfort within. Live Music will be performed by Scott Cowie.
This event is being funded and supported by ‘To Absent Friends’ as part of their 2024 festival of storytelling and remembrance. Because of their support, this is a free offering for all.
Please visit www.kalicollective.com to book your place.
There are only 18 spaces available. If you can no longer make it, please cancel so your space can open up for someone else.
Photo credit: Jassy Earl
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