Welcome to our North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival site!
Our festival runs each year in October but our team work all year planning and designing creative projects and encouraging community involvement and participation.
In North Ayrshire we believe the promotion of creative arts is essential in supporting mental health and wellbeing and provides us with opportunities to engage with people within our communities that may not have done so using traditional methods.
Incorporating the creative arts into our every day practice provides the opportunity for individuals to explore mental health themes that can be difficult to approach and express themselves, experience peer support and importantly challenge stigma and discrimination.
Our festival is open to everyone in our community and we hope you enjoy finding more about what we do here regularly.
Recent posts
- Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival Returns to North Ayrshire with 24 Incredible EventsThe Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival is now live, bringing its inspiring programme of creativity, conversation and connection to communities across Scotland. This year, North Ayrshire is proud to host an incredible 24 events and exhibitions, offering something for everyone to enjoy as part of Scotland’s national celebration of arts and mental health. Why notContinue reading “Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival Returns to North Ayrshire with 24 Incredible Events”
- Reflecting before the ReflectionsHi, Jay James here. You may remember me from such shows as, well just the one show, ‘Art Imitating Life’ a verbatim theatre production I brought to the Harbour Arts Centre last year for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival – which was also my first time showcasing my art at the festival overall. Shameful,Continue reading “Reflecting before the Reflections”
- A Creative Pulse: Reflections from the North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts FestivalSam Hodkinson (Co lead North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival) There’s a moment each year, just before the North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival begins, when everything feels quietly electric. Programmes are finalised, venues prepared, artists ready to share deeply personal work and as coordinators, we pause to take it all in. Because this festivalContinue reading “A Creative Pulse: Reflections from the North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival”
About us
Our North Ayrshire mental health arts festival team is made up of partners from North Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership, North Ayrshire Council, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and third sector organisations. In addition we have a range of supporting artists, technical staff and volunteers all of whom help us to deliver a programme of events and projects each year.
Our joint working approach means we can utilise the skills and expertise of all those involved ensuring the festival is accessible to all and responds to the needs of our communities, services and supports.
We work closely with the Mental Health Foundation who run the National festival programme with regional partners. Connecting with other programmes across Scotland allows us to show case our work on a larger platform and continue to promote the importance of this work we all take great pride in.
Our North Ayrshire festival is now in its 3rd year with previous years themes being around ‘Revolution’ and ‘in/Visible’.
