Festival 2025
The To Absent Friends festival takes place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2025.
It is 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 taking place around Scotland and online.
Macrame Workshop
Organised by North Berwick Coastal Community Connections
Hope Rooms, North Berwick
Saturday 1 November, 11:15am-1:15pm
This activity is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Following our taster macrame sessions at Fringe by the Sea this year, join us during the To Absent Friends festival for a more in-depth workshop, connecting the knots to create something special.
Bex from InSpire Crafts, based in Edinburgh, will be hosting a workshop tailored to new beginners as well as old hats.
Held on Saturday at the Hope Rooms between 11.15am and 1.15pm, it promises to create gentle conversation through art.
Please book your place by emailing admin@nbc-communityconnections.org.
Photo credit: Rocknwool on Unsplash
To Absent Friends Concert
Organised by the Edinburgh Brass Band
St Johns Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ
Saturday 1 November 2025, 7:30-9:30pm
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. The concert will be at St John’s Church, our home venue in Edinburgh’s West End. The church provides the perfect backdrop and a stunning acoustic for this performance.
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Welcoming & relaxed. We want everyone to feel comfortable at our concerts. You’re welcome to come and go, move or stand if you need to, and there are quieter spaces away from the main church hall for anyone that needs a short break. If you have any specific requirements (e.g. aisle/near-exit seating) or wish to know more about the space please contact us and we’ll do our best to help.
Please register your place on Eventbrite.
A Day to Remember
Organised by Families Outside
Govan, Glasgow (exact location given at registration)
1 November 2025
This event is for the Families Outside community.
Families bereaved through a death in prison often grieve alone – a ‘disenfranchised grief’ unsupported in wider society. This remembrance event brings these families together through this shared experience to commemorate their family members through mutual support and without judgement.
Through tailored activities, families will be invited to talk about the family member who passed away, what they liked to do, and what they enjoyed. The comfort and safety of joining together with people united through this utterly unique experience of grief aims to provide support, positive memories, and closure. The event will include lunch for everyone to mingle and chat.
The event is being held in Glasgow in the Govan area, at a fully accessible venue. For more information or to join this event, please contact events@familiesoutside.org.uk or phone our free Helpline service on 0800 254 0088. Please register your place by Monday 27th October, 5pm.
To learn more about what you can expect on the day, read this reflection piece written by a family member who attended last years event.
For more information about Families Outside and the support we offer, visit www.familiesoutside.org.uk.
Please note that this event is not open to the public.
It Takes a Village exhibition
Organised by Duncan Place Community Hub & Enterprise
4 Duncan Place, Leith EH6 8HW
Through To Absent Friends Week
This exhibition will be on display through the week.
The “It Takes a Village” exhibition of photos by Colin Gray is a powerful and challenging series of portraits and personal stories exploring the idea that as people’s health deteriorates, care and support comes in many guises.
This exhibition will be on show at Duncan Place Community Hub & Enterprise through To Absent Friends Week.
Image credit: Colin Gray
To Absent Friends photo exhibition
Organised by Glasgow Life Libraries and Communities
The Mitchell Library, North St, Glasgow G3 7DN
31 October - 30 November 2025
This exhibition is located in a public area of the library.
In a culture where death is variously perceived as being too morbid, too difficult or too disturbing to mention, how do we remember and pay our respects to the dead?
This photo exhibition by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief explores some of the ideas behind To Absent Friends and why it is important.
This photo exhibition will be on display at the Mitchell Library for the month of November as part of To Absent Friends 2025.
Photo credit: Mayra Crowe
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