An exciting programme of Homecoming events in Dumfries & Galloway!

Dumfries & Galloway is planning an exciting programme of events for Scotland’s year of Homecoming in 2009.  From January to November 2009 these events will be presented to Scots everywhere as Homecoming on the Doorstep, which Dumfries & Galloway Arts Association and regional partners and agencies Dumfries & Galloway Council and Visit Scotland, are developing into a programme inspired by the lives, work and achievements of the sons and daughters of Dumfries & Galloway, of whom undoubtedly the most well known is Robert Burns.

Dumfries will be centre stage for the opening weekend of Homecoming 2009.  On the 25th January the programme for Homecoming on the Doorstep will be launched by Burns Light, a spectacular lantern procession inspired by the works of Robert Burns. The processions will wind through the heart of Dumfries, past the MidSteeple, Robert Burns house, medieval Devorgilla Bridge, and St Michael’s Church where he is buried, with all processions meeting at The Whitesands for a spectacular fire show.  Artists Alex Rigg and Trevor Leat plan to build a huge withy sculpture of Tam o’Shanter, which will be fired on the night.

Visitors to the region will find themselves welcomed to a vibrant midwinter festival weekend, a once in a lifetime event with real atmosphere in a historic setting.
 
As Homecoming on the Doorstep gets under way, Dumfries & Galloway will be full of varied events, with the emphasis on the uncommon and the imaginative.   From a special Homecoming Spring Fling, which will open artists’ studios across the region, to the Original Festival of the Bicycle, from a themed Film Festival to a Burns Literary Series, Dumfries & Galloway will be alive with inspiration and creativity.

Homecoming on the Doorstep is for discerning, independent visitors who are looking for an authentic sense of the local, and will enjoy their welcome into Scottish community life.