Scotland is currently revelling in its annual Edinburgh festivals season – but soon they will be joined by another major arts event, The Herald can reveal.
A new arts festival is to be launched specifically to appeal to the older, culture-loving section of Scottish society.
In particular, it will focus on arts and cultural events for those in residential care homes.
Creative Scotland and Age Scotland are to launch the new, as yet unnamed, festival next year, and have advertised for an artistic director this week.
The huge new event, funded to the tune of £150,000 by the charitable Baring Foundation, will “celebrate arts, creativity and ageing.”
Creative Scotland says: “Our vision is to create an inspiring and ambitious annual festival of arts for, by, with and about older people.”
The first festival will take place in October 2012, and will last a month.
The advert for the artistic director post, with a salary of between £30,000 and £36,000, was published yesterday.
The new festival is part of a drive by Creative Scotland to encourage those who have not engaged with the arts to connect with cultural events.
Research from 2008, the Taking Part study, found that older people are less likely than many to take part in the arts.
Partially inspired by similar festivals in Ireland and Wales, it is hoped the event will have a “distinctly contemporary Scottish and international flavour”.
Maggie Maxwell, development officer for Creative Scotland, said: “It is a very exciting proposition. This will be a major arts festival.
“It will be a national festival, although its focus may move from place to place over the years, being in Inverness one year and another place the next, for example.
“Like many countries, Scotland has an issue of an ageing population, and this festival will address ageing and the arts.
“However, we are keen to stress it is an inter-generational event, although interested in older people, and older artists – because people don’t lose their interest just because they get older.”
The festival emerged from a meeting at Perth Concert Hall in March, organised with Creative Scotland and the National Forum on Ageing Futures, to discuss the benefits of creativity for the older population.
The meeting was attended by more than 200 arts participants, aged 50 or over.
The job description for artistic director adds: “The festival will increase opportunities for involvement by older people in high quality arts programmes throughout the year, as artists and performers, participants and consumers.
“It will aim to involve people not currently engaged with the arts. It should address ageism and actively promote the positive representation of older people.
“An equalities emphasis is essential, and the festival should target different groups of people, including the ageing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, disabled people and those from a black and minority ethnic background.”
A spokesman for Age Scotland said: “We are very excited about this development. It is a great opportunity and we are excited about the possibilities of the event.
“We are really looking forward to it and the positive messages it will involve.”
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