1995

The Scottish International Children’s Festival

“Children’s Festival in Crisis!”

In 1995 the Festival fell into financial difficulties, although it wasn’t quite as dramatic as the headlines suggested. Administrator at the time, Katie Stuart, says, “I remember sleepless nights; owing to the bad weather the attendance levels were way below budget and the future looked very unsure. It was difficult! But we had an inordinate amount of good will from our funders – I suppose everyone could see that there was something there worth saving.”

As part of a cultural agreement between Scotland and Quebec, the Festival collaborated with Montreal theatre company Theatre sans Fils for several years. As a result, The Crown of Destiny premiered at the 1995 festival: “An enormous show with enormous puppets!” as Katie remembers, it set a precedent for the Festival’s growing ambitions. Three Scottish puppeteers had been chosen to spend several months working in Canada and, since then, the creation of training and development opportunities for artists in Scotland has become central to the Festival’s vision: read more in 2003.