Festival 2026
The To Absent Friends festival takes place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2026.
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.
These listings are live, so new events will be added in the coming weeks. If you have an event or activity you’d like to add, please email details to samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk.
Death Café (Online)
Organised by Curious Mortals.
Tuesday 10th Nov 2026, 7.30pm-8.30pm.
Taking place online (MS Teams).
This activity is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Let’s break the taboo, and talk about Death! This event is an informal space to talk with others about something which affects us all…so boil the kettle, raid the biscuit tin and come and join the conversation!
Please note that this is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.
More information: https://curiousmortals.co.uk/past-and-future-events
Register: Click here to register
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
Memories Matter
Organised by Linthouse Housing Association
9 November 2026, 10:30am - noon
Elder Cottages, Glasgow
This activity is for the Elder Cottages community.
Thanks to the Absent Friends Grant Scheme, Linthouse Housing Association’s older tenants will gather together to commemorate those they have loved and lost.
Our regular coffee morning on Wednesday 9th November, which falls during the Absent Friends Festival, will be dedicated to making photo frames and memory jars to remember and celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost.
The session is open to tenants of Linthouse Housing Association and will take place in our amenity housing in Drumoyne Drive, 10.30am to 12noon.
Image credit: Linthouse Housing Association
Open Mic Night
Organised by North Berwick Coastal Community Connections
Saturday 7 November 2026, 7-9pm
St Columba’s Cafe, Westgate, North Berwick
This activity is open to the public. Please register in advance. Performers welcome.
Absent Friends Week is a national festival of storytelling and remembrance - a space to remember those who are no longer with us and share the stories that keep them present in our lives. This year, Coastal Community Connections explores Legacy Burdens – the expectations, beliefs and behaviours around grief that we inherit from our families, communities and wider culture. These can shape how we think grief should look, what we feel able to express and what we learn to keep hidden.
Hosted by Paul Duffney of Tyne & Esk Writers, a welcoming open mic night bringing together words, music and creative expression around absent friends, grief, loss and a celebration of the continuing bonds of love - come along to share something or simply to listen.
If you would like to read or perform on the night, please email: admin@nbccommunityconnections.org.
To book your place as an audience member, please visit here.
To Absent Friends Concert
Organised by Edinburgh Brass Band
7 November 2026, 7:30pm
St John’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh
This activity is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Reflective and inspiring brass music to remember absent friends, including the premiere of a new piece by local composer Alan Fernie. We’ve performed a free concert as part of the To Absent Friends festival since it launched, and we hope you’ll join us once more to celebrate and remember people we love who have died. This year’s concert includes the premiere of Absent Friends, a new piece we commissioned from Alan Fernie, whose music is played by brass bands around the world.
Alongside it we’ll perform a selection of music that takes its inspiration from, and honours, absent friends. The concert is at St John’s Episcopal Church, our home venue in Edinburgh’s West End, whose lovely acoustic makes it the perfect setting for this performance. To Absent Friends is a Scotland-wide festival of storytelling and remembrance taking place throughout November.
Book your free tickets here.
Self-Guided Nature Walk for Remembrance
Organised by Kinghorn Community Land Association
1st - 7th November 2026
Wild Meadow Eco Cemetery, Kinghorn
This activity is open to the public and self-guided. There is no need to book.
As part of the ‘To Absent Friends’ festival, KCLA have created a self-guided walk through the Wild Meadow Eco Cemetery to allow time for reflection and aid healing. It is well-known that time spent in nature has a positive effect upon our mental wellbeing, and this is especially true when dealing with loss and grief.
‘To Absent Friends’ Self-Guided Nature Walk will take folk on a gentle walk through our wild space, with points along the route to pause and reflect whilst experiencing nature. The walk is entirely self-led and can be done at any pace. Reusable maps will be available from a box by the bench in our Welcome Garden during the festival, with poems and nature notes to accompany the walk.
The route takes roughly 30 minutes at a slow pace and follows a mixture of gravel paths and well-worn grassy tracks with some slopes that are muddy in wet weather. Please dress for the Scottish weather with warm clothes and suitable footwear.
We are working hard to improve accessibility in the Eco Cemetery but for now only the Welcome Garden and gravel path sections of the walking route are suitable for those in wheelchairs.
Please note that there are no toilet facilities at the Eco Cemetery. The nearest accessible toilets are available at The Ecology Centre. Their Nest Cafe is open 10 am-3 pm Thursday - Monday.
Website: kcla.org.uk
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