Thank you to everyone who bought tickets for our fundraising raffle. All of the proceeds go straight back into bringing future festival events to the Easter Ross Peninsula.

What a fabulous start to a wonderful week of culture. Music, stories, school visits, art workshop and art trails and there's so much more to come.

Before the Summer holidays we invited P5 & P6 pupils from Tain ASG to express themselves through their art and take part in this years school art competition and on Saturday 5th Sept we held our Pro-Loco event on Balnagown Estate . Our team have been blown away the number of participants across both competitions. The winners of the cash prizes will be voted for by you. Check out poster the below to find out how to vote.

You could be a winner in our raffle. First prize £100. Pick up your tickets at our events or in the Pop-Up Shop at the Masonic Lodge, Queen Street, Tain to be in for a chance of winning some lovely prizes.

Do you recognise this wee book? In 1988-89 Class 2B compiled a 'Pronouncing Dictionary of Scottish Place Names' from a survey in which Scottish Secondary Schools were asked to submit from within their catchment areas, place-names consistently mispronounced by incomers and the media. With the kind permission of the family of Ken Mackay (English Teacher at TRA) - whose concept this was in 1988 a 3rd edition has been produced 38 years later. With thanks to Morag Matheson, whose

Our wee team are thrilled with the response to this years festival with tickets selling fast and a few sold out. But don't worry, we have plenty of opportunities for you to get involved free of charge, with pop-up authors and artists, the heritage trail and the art trail across the peninsula.

Our team have been blown away by the response to the Pro-Loco art competition which, this year, is set on the stunning Balnagown Estate. Is it because we are running the event on a Saturday or because of the stunning location? We can only guess. We just released an additional 5 spaces to join us on Saturday 5th September. Book before tomorrow evening (3rd Sept) to secure your space. Please read our terms & conditions before you book. The Pro-Loco Art Event returns, this ti

Fran Smee is a retired teacher of physical education and history. Her Fran's Van series of children's books reflect her interest in family, in community and her native Scotland. Her debut novel “A Better End” explores the same themes but at the other end of the age range. The landscapes of Scotland are a vital backdrop playing an important role in grounding her writing. Her characters drive her writing and are developed through dialogue, Fran lives in the far north east of Sc

These beautiful bookmarks will be available in the St Duthac Book and Arts Festival Pop-Up Bookshop (Masonic Lodge, Tain) during the festival run from 8th - 13th September 2026. A perfect gift for the bookworms in your world.

This year we have a number of events in our programme that patrons should book direct with the facilitators. Starting with our launch event to Celebrate Fèis Rois’s 40th Birthday with an evening of excellent music. Book direct here. Monday 7th September 7.30 pm-9.30 pm The Duthac Centre, Stafford Street, Tain IV19 1BQ

We love seeing the support from local organisations for our friendly wee festival. Gro For You have set up a bookshelf at their fabulous community innovation campus on Morangie Road, Tain, IV19 1PY. Why not pop in for something to eat in their cafe and while there pick up your next read for a donation.

Our 2026 programme is now available at venues across the Easter Ross Peninsula and will be coming to venues further afield. We invited volunteers to our launch event on the 22 July 2026 to see the brochures hot of the press and to enlist their help to distribute them to venues across the Highlands. We were blown away by the turnout of 38 people. Grab your copy, sit back and choose your events and be ready for tickets which go on sale on from 7 a.m. on the 28th July 2026. You

This year’s Festival (our 6th) is a wonderful mixture of the written word and creativity. BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub’s James Naughtie is returning after his sell-out appearance in 2022, while Newsnight former presenter Kirsty Wark dons her fiction hat to chat about her novels. The highly anticipated Asad Qureshi has cashed in on his raincheck from 2025 and joins us this year with his book 165 Days Prisoner of the Taliban. We get theatrical with Theatre Director John Doyle, born i

The Group is eagerly awaiting the arrival of this year's festival brochures. As in previous years we will be asking our volunteers' help to distribute the brochures in the local area and further afield. We will be holding a volunteers' evening in the Lesser Hall in the Duthac Centre on Wednesday 22nd July at 7pm to give a sneak preview of this years festival. There will also be the opportunity to volunteer your time during the Festival (8th-13th September) to help in the Pop

The sun shone on our fundraising walk and talk on Balnagown Estate lead by Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre manager Jason Ubych. Tickets sold out within a few days and raised £410 for Tain & District Museum. It was perfect weather for the occasion and as predicted the castle and gardens looked amazing in the sunshine. We all celebrated with a photo on the King James Bridge. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers, Jason, and Balnagown Estate for their help in arrang

The St Duthac Book and Arts Festival team and volunteers popped up at the annual Tain Classic Car event on fathers day 2026.

We are thrilled to let you know that we are once again working with Balnagown Castle Estate to bring a walking tour of the Italian Gardens and Castle grounds in aid of Tain Museum. Tickets can only be purchased through the TicketSource platform. Balnagown Estate - Walking Tour at Balnagown Estate, Kildary, IV18 ONU event tickets from TicketSource

Double wow. We had a full house at the Budapest Cafe Orchestra concert on Friday 5th June 2026. Many thanks to Martin Ross for being our volunteer photographer. And to everyone who made this event happen.

Sales are going brilliantly for the Budapest Cafe Orchestra event on the 5th June 2026, so well in fact that we just released additional tickets on Ticketsource https://www.ticketsource.com/st-duthac-book-arts-festival