Midsteeple Quarter celebrates Community Land Festival

Special performances celebrated the transformational power of community ownership in Dumfries.

There were treats for the ears and the taste buds as Midsteeple Quarter marked Scotland’s Community Land Festival in their new event space at The Standard, on the High Street.

The festival highlights the positive difference of community ownership delivering positive change for places .

Since 2018 Midsteeple Quarter has brought six previously empty High Street buildings into community ownership.

The recently completed Standard building contains seven residential flats as well as events, office and retail space. Misteeple Quarter’s other buildings are currently in meanwhile and pop-up use, supporting small and local traders to get a foothold on the High Street.

Thursday’s (October 30) celebration featured an entertaining performance by well-known Dumfries poet Joe McGurk, who is also a volunteer director of Midsteeple Quarter.

Young singers from Dumfries Music Collective - Alex Bailey, from Thornhill, and Ella Campbell, of Dalry - also entertained guests with great sets of songs,

There was delicious food provided by two High Street businesses, Batter and  Patter - a Midsteeple Quarter High Street tenant in The Smithy - and The Stove Cafe.

Midsteeple Quarter board member Justin Hyslop and Robyn Dunbar-Smith, of Community Land Scotland, at the celebration event in The Standard

Tim Cowen, Midsteeple Quarter’s Executive Director, said: “We were delighted to take part in the Community Land Festival, and be part of a Scotland wide network of communities who all recognise the importance and opportunities of communities coming together and taking control of local spaces and buildings.

“Thursday’s event was an opportunity for us to showcase  not just our new Events space, but some great local talent. And it was also great to get young people who had not visited the space before involved. We would like to thank everybody who came out on such a wet and windy night to support us.”

The Community Land Festival is organised by Community Land Scotland and The Community Land Team. It developed initially from Community Land Week.

Community Land Scotland Assistant Development Manager and Festival Organiser, Meg Taintor, says: “Community Land Festival is all about people – the communities who make it happen, and the wider public who get to join in and experience what they’ve achieved.

“Now in its seventh year, this is the biggest yet. The Festival continues to feel fresh and exciting because each community brings its own creativity, energy, and ideas to the table. 

“That sense of new energy and involvement is incredibly exciting and really shows how vibrant and growing the community land movement is across Scotland.” 

To find out how to book the event space in The Standard - or to arrange a viewing - email info@midsteeplequarter.org or call 07907 173092.