Whole weekend of arts

May 29 2009 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TAY Street in Perth is transformed into a colourful and vibrant outdoor art gallery this weekend for the return of Art on the River, part of the Perth Festival of the Arts’ Art Trail.

An overwhelming response from artists and craft workers resulted in the 40 stalls being quickly snapped up and Art on the River organisers having to turn potential stall-holders away.

And with the weather forecast set fine for the weekend, the bunting is set to flutter over a huge turnout of people browsing and enjoying the Festival atmosphere.

Art on the River opens tomorrow from 10am until 5pm and on Sunday from 11am until 4pm.

This year’s Art on the River weekend will have an extra attraction with an unusual form of art exhibition in Perth City Centre to complement the two-day showcase on Tay Street.

‘Red Bus Art’ is a large red double decker bus, which makes a two-day stop in King Edward Street for all to climb aboard.

The mobile gallery will be an integral part of the Art on the River weekend, organised by Perth City Centre Management as part of the Perth Festival of the Arts. A wide variety of paintings will be on show and there’s the chance to meet some of the artists.

ARTS CAFE

Festival-goers will be glad to hear that The Arts Cafe returns to St Matthew’s Church tomorrow and Sunday to coincide with Art on the River.

Preparations are well underway at the Tay Street landmark church which will this year be showcasing the work of young Perthshire photographers in the church sanctuary.

The Rev Scott Burton said: “We are delighted to open our doors again to the public and to be able to help promote the work of young people from our area. The church will have giant blow-ups of the young people’s photographs as well as slides of their work.”

Backstage things are heating up in the engine-room of the church kitchen where volunteers are preparing the soup and sandwiches, Fairtrade teas coffees and homebaking which help sustain the army of festival visitors descending upon Tay Street.

Mr Burton continued: “Last year’s cafe was a huge success with more than 200 visitors into the church and plenty of customers and stall holders who enjoyed Fairtrade teas and coffees. This year the cafe will again be open on both Saturday and Sunday.

“Many people who came to Art on the River last year said they had always wanted to see inside St Matthew’s. We want everyone to know that they are welcome to come in for a look around, view the young people’s exhibition, use our facilities and visit the cafe.

“Art lovers and shoppers can find sustenance during a pause from the busy arts and crafts stalls and leave refreshed having enjoyed homemade soup, filled rolls and homebaking. Visitors can sit in or take away to continue browsing the arts exhibition outside.”

The Arts Cafe in St Matthew’s is open tomorrow 10am-3.30pm and on Sunday from noon until 3.30pm.

FESTIVAL FINALE

The eclectic 11-day programme of this year’s Perth Festival of the Arts comes to a close on Sunday evening with the Blue Riband event, the Brewin Dolphin Festival Concert in Perth Concert Hall featuring Nicola Benedetti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The popularity of the 38th Perth Festival has delighted its organisers. “It’s been an excellent week so far and ticket sales are really strong, much stronger than expected, and we’re finding that a lot of people are buying their tickets on the day rather than in advance.” said Festival administrator, Sandra Ralston.

Sandra added that, while there were “very few indeed” tickets remaining for Sunday’s concert or Fascinating Aida in Perth Theatre on Saturday, there are still tickets for tonight’s bill of ‘Three Decades of Steely Dan’ with Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in Perth Theatre and The Nash Ensemble of London in Perth Concert Hall, plus Seth Lakeman’s Perth Concert Hall gig tomorrow.

Festival details can be found on www.perthfestival.co.uk

See page 32 and 33 for Perth Arts Festival reviews.