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To Absent Friends 2015

Across Scotland, preparations are underway for To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance.

The festival will launch with a special concert at the RSNO's new centre at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Thursday 29 November 2015 at 6pm. The concert is the product of 6 months work by high school pupils and teachers from across Scotland, who have collaborated with musicians from the Royal Scottish

National Orchestra to prepare original stories and compositions inspired by people who have died.

The To Absent Friends festival invites ordinary people to remember friends and family that have died, through a series of public events, private reminiscences and online tributes. A full list of festival events can be viewed on the website, and a range of community of events are taking place across Scotland.

The public events programme includes:

• A Hearth for Old Stories, at the Scottish Storytelling Centre with poet and storyteller Margot Henderson.
• Dog Stone an interactive storytelling adventure by theatre company Creative Electric, taking place in various public spaces across Edinburgh and exploring how imagination is often used as a coping mechanism.
• Get Organised a recital by Usher Hall organist John Kitchen in honour of absent friends.
• Gone but not forgotton, storytelling and poetry at The Blind Poet pub
• To Absent Friends concert with Edinburgh Brass Band.
• Courage in the name of freedom of expression, hosted by the Scottish Writers Centre' and Scottish PEN at The Mitchell Library to remember writers who have lost their life for their words.
• A time of reflection for those bereaved by suicide, at St John’s Church, Glenrothes - short talks, poetry readings and music, to remember those who have tragically lost their lives to suicide
• Bridgeton Community Celebration, a free event to celebrate the lives of lost loved ones with soup, tea and coffee, stories and balloon release to remember absent friends.
• We remember them well, a chance to hear and share memories of departed friends, from Leith and beyond, with live music and refreshments.
• Don’t mention the coal scuttle, a discussion about bereavement based on the book Don't Mention The Coal Scuttle, a compilation from over 50 different and real experiences of those facing the death of a husband, a wife, a partner, a soul mate, including anecdotes, reminiscences and personal experiences.

Get involved

Individuals and groups are being encouraged to host their own private remembrance events as part of To Absent Friends. Samhain Suppers are one of the ways people are getting involved at home. Based on the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain, the idea is for people to gather together for dinner, share stories and photos of absent friends, maybe even raise a toast, in the manner of Burns' Suppers.

The To Absent Friends website also has space for people to leave their tributes. The Remembrance Playlist allows people to dedicate songs to late loved ones, while Remembering The Greats invites people to pay tribute to stalwarts of their local football or rugby club.

On social media people will be changing their profile pictures to an absent friend, as a mark of remembrance. Follow @2absentfriends and use #ToAbsentFriends to join in, or contact Rebecca if you'd like more information.