Craigmillar Festival Society
A pioneering Edinburgh community-arts organisation that used festivals, theatre, publishing, training and local participation to support cultural and social development in Craigmillar.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Craigmillar Festival Society (CFS) was a community-arts and social-development organisation based in Craigmillar, an area of southeast Edinburgh, Scotland. It grew out of a 1962 festival organised by members of the Peffermill School Mothers Club. The original purpose was to demonstrate and develop the abilities of local children and residents in a neighbourhood widely regarded at the time as economically disadvantaged. Helen Crummy was a prominent organiser, and local councillor Jack Kane provided important civic support. The first activities brought together local music, drama and visual arts, including a pageant connected with Craigmillar Castle. The initiative developed beyond an annual event. After the British government's Urban Aid Programme was introduced, the Craigmillar Festival Committee received formal recognition and charitable status in 1969 and adopted the name Craigmillar Festival Society. It employed neighbourhood workers who offered advice, referrals and practical support, while also helping to establish social clubs, lunch programmes, activities for housebound residents and community-based cultural groups. This combination of cultural production and local organisation became central to the society's identity. CFS's annual summer festival remained its most visible activity. From the late 1960s onward, many productions used Craigmillar Castle and other local places as settings. The society became particularly associated with community musical theatre: professional performers and creative workers collaborated with local residents on productions addressing social, political and neighbourhood issues. More than one hundred productions were associated with the organisation over its lifetime, including works such as The Time Machine, Castle, Cooncil & Curse, Culture Vultures, Oh Gentle Giant, Dampbusters, Fit For Heroes and Grease Niddrie Style. These productions provided performance opportunities while giving residents a means of discussing local conditions and campaigning for facilities. The society also developed communication, employment and training initiatives. Its newsletter, Craigmillar Festival News, began around 1970 and eventually became a monthly local newspaper, continuing until its final edition in March 2000. The successor publication, Craigmillar Chronicle, continued in a different form until the early 2010s. In 1976, CFS produced a Comprehensive Plan for Action that placed arts and culture at the centre of regeneration and became an influential example for community-enterprise practice. The organisation also participated in government employment schemes and operated training projects, including the YtE Unify programme, which brought adult and youth trainees together in practical workshops. CFS helped create or support public artworks, film and cultural initiatives, including the Mermaid sculpture by Pedro Silva, the Gentle Giant sculpture associated with Jimmy Boyle, and work connected with the Bill Douglas Trilogy. Local performers who emerged through its productions included Alice Henderson, Johnni Stanton, Faye Milligan and James MacPherson. Its methods attracted visitors, researchers and practitioners from Britain and abroad and were cited as an influence on other community initiatives, including the Easterhouse Festival Society and work associated with Notting Hill Carnival. The organisation was disbanded in 2002 after the end of its funding structure, and the final annual Craigmillar Festival took place that summer. Its activities were subsequently divided among separate programmes rather than continuing under one society. The organisation's history later became the subject of exhibitions, archival work and the documentary Arts: The Catalyst, The Craigmillar Story. A separate organisation, Craigmillar Now, was established in 2020 to preserve and reinterpret the area's arts and heritage, and the Craigmillar Festival was revived in 2021. CFS is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand, but as a historically significant community-arts institution and model of participatory cultural regeneration.
History
Craigmillar Festival Society originated in 1962 when members of the Peffermill School Mothers Club organised a local festival in southeast Edinburgh. The immediate motivation was to challenge low expectations of children and residents in a deprived public-housing community. Helen Crummy was among the mothers who helped mobilise local talent, while councillor Jack Kane offered public support. The early festival included music, drama and art, and a pageant centred on Craigmillar Castle proved particularly successful. The festival soon became a continuing community institution rather than a single annual celebration. In 1969, following the development of the Urban Aid Programme, the committee gained formal recognition and charitable status and became the Craigmillar Festival Society. CFS appointed neighbourhood workers who acted as local points of contact, provided advice and referrals, and helped organise social clubs, lunch activities and services for isolated residents. Cultural activity was treated as a practical means of building confidence, participation and collective organisation. From the late 1960s, the society's productions frequently incorporated Craigmillar Castle and other local settings. Its annual summer festival was accompanied by political musical theatre written and performed with local residents. The productions addressed social problems, public services and neighbourhood identity. The organisation became a prominent example of community musical theatre, with professional artists working alongside non-professional local participants. Its repertoire included The Time Machine in 1973, Castle, Cooncil & Curse in 1974, Time and Motion Man in 1975, Willie Wynn in 1976, Culture Vultures in 1977, Oh Gentle Giant in 1978, and later works such as Shoo, For A' That & A' That, Dampbusters, Watch It, Fit For Heroes, Kicking Up A Stink, In Your Dreams and Grease Niddrie Style. CFS also used publishing to build local communication. Craigmillar Festival News began in the early 1970s and developed into a monthly community newspaper. It continued, with interruptions, until March 2000. Craigmillar Chronicle and later The Chronicle carried on the local-publication tradition into the following decade. In 1970, neighbourhood worker Claire Elder helped develop the Bingham Belles, a drama and music group whose performances helped draw attention to local needs and supported campaigns to retain community and youth facilities. A major statement of the society's approach appeared in its 1976 Comprehensive Plan for Action. The plan put art and culture at the heart of regeneration and was subsequently treated as a significant guide to social community enterprise. That year the organisation also received a major anti-poverty research grant from the European Community. Employment and training became another major area of work. CFS participated in government training schemes and developed the YtE Unify project, bringing adult and youth trainees into shared practical workshops, including joinery work at Castlebrae Business Centre. The organisation reported placing more than one hundred people per year into full-time employment during one period, although no complete financial or employment series is available here. The society supported public art, film and performance projects, including the Mermaid sculpture by Pedro Silva, the Gentle Giant sculpture associated with Jimmy Boyle and work linked to the Bill Douglas Trilogy, including My Childhood. Its community productions helped some participants move into professional performance and filmmaking. Alice Henderson and Johnni Stanton later formed their own companies; Faye Milligan and James MacPherson also developed professional careers, with MacPherson becoming associated with Plum Films. CFS attracted the attention of artists, researchers, policymakers and community practitioners. Its model was discussed by commentators including Eric Trist, George McRobie, Charles Landry and François Matarasso, and was considered influential in the development of other community initiatives, including the Easterhouse Festival Society. The organisation also maintained links with a range of cultural and social figures, among them Richard Demarco, Anne Lorne Gillies, Joan Bakewell, Michael Marra and Bill Paterson. The society was disbanded in 2002, following the loss of its funding and the division of its projects into separate programmes. The final annual Craigmillar Festival took place that summer. Its work was later documented through an exhibition at the City Arts Centre and the 2004 film Arts: The Catalyst, The Craigmillar Story, which won a 2005 Saltire Society short-documentary prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. In 2020, Craigmillar Now was created as an independent arts and heritage initiative focused on preserving the area's history, and the festival tradition was revived in 2021. These later activities represent continuation and reinterpretation of the legacy rather than a formal revival of the original society.
- 2021
Festival tradition revived
[1]The Craigmillar Festival was revived in a later form.
- 2020
Craigmillar Now established
[1]A new arts and heritage organisation was formed to preserve and celebrate Craigmillar's community-arts history.
- 2004
History documented in exhibition and film
[1]The Craigmillar story was presented through an exhibition and the documentary Arts: The Catalyst, The Craigmillar Story.
- 2002
Society disbanded
[1]CFS ended and the final annual Craigmillar Festival was held.
- 2000
Craigmillar Festival News ends
[1]The newspaper's final edition was dated March 2000; Craigmillar Chronicle subsequently continued local publishing.
- 1976
Comprehensive Plan for Action published
[1]The plan formalised an approach that placed arts and culture at the centre of community regeneration.
- 1973
First community musical
[1]The Time Machine marked the beginning of the society's documented sequence of community musical-theatre productions.
- 1970
Craigmillar Festival News begins
[1]The society began a local newsletter that later developed into a monthly community newspaper.
- 1969
Committee becomes Craigmillar Festival Society
[1]The organisation gained recognition and charitable status in the context of the Urban Aid Programme.
- 1962
Local festival committee established
[1]The Peffermill School Mothers Club organised the first Craigmillar festival, supported by local councillor Jack Kane.
Products and positioning
Participatory community arts and cultural regeneration, combining locally made festivals and performances with neighbourhood support, civic campaigning, education, publishing and employment training.
Community festival · 1962
Annual Craigmillar Festival
The society's principal public programme was a recurring festival of music, drama, visual art and locally produced events. It provided a platform for residents, children and community groups and often used Craigmillar Castle as a setting. The festival also framed local political and social concerns through performances and public celebration.
Participatory theatre · 1973
Community musical theatre
CFS developed a distinctive form of musical theatre in which professional performers and creative workers collaborated closely with local residents. Productions were built around local experience and frequently addressed public services, poverty, neighbourhood identity and social change. More than one hundred productions were associated with the society across its operating life.
Community newspaper · 1970
Craigmillar Festival News
Beginning as a newsletter around 1970, Craigmillar Festival News developed into a monthly local newspaper. It reported community activity and helped residents communicate about local issues. The publication continued until its final edition in March 2000, after which successor publication Craigmillar Chronicle carried on the local-news tradition.
Community support service · 1969
Neighbourhood-worker programme
CFS employed neighbourhood workers who provided advice, social-service referrals and practical support. They also helped establish clubs for older, housebound or socially isolated residents and contributed to festival activities. The programme reflected the society's wider aim of linking arts participation with everyday community development.
Employment and skills training
YtE Unify
YtE Unify was described as an innovative Scottish training scheme bringing adult and youth trainees together in workshops and projects. Activities included joinery training at the Castlebrae Business Centre. It formed part of CFS's wider participation in government employment and training programmes.
Public art
Craigmillar public-art projects
The society helped create or support public artworks connected with Craigmillar, including the Mermaid sculpture by Pedro Silva and the Gentle Giant sculpture associated with Jimmy Boyle. These projects extended the organisation's cultural work beyond staged events into the built environment.
Marketing campaigns
- 1976Arts-led regeneration programme
Craigmillar · Edinburgh
The Comprehensive Plan for Action presented culture and participation as core tools for community regeneration and social enterprise.
Outcome. The plan became an influential reference point for community-arts and social-development practice.
- 1970Bingham Belles community campaign
Bingham · Craigmillar
The Bingham Belles combined drama and music with advocacy for local needs. Their performances helped raise awareness of the importance of retaining community and youth facilities in Bingham.
Outcome. The campaign contributed to successful efforts to maintain local community and youth-centre facilities.
Brand decisions
2002
End the society's unified structureOtherBackground
Funding for the organisation ended and its activities could no longer continue under the previous central structure.
Action taken
CFS was disbanded and its projects were separated into individual programmes.
Aftermath
The original society ceased to operate, although elements of its cultural and heritage legacy continued through later initiatives.
1976
Adopt an arts-led regeneration frameworkStrategyBackground
The society sought to connect creative participation with anti-poverty work, local organisation and practical community improvement.
Action taken
It instituted a Comprehensive Plan for Action placing art and culture at the centre of regeneration.
Aftermath
The framework was later regarded as a model for social community enterprise and community-arts practice.
1969
Formalise the festival organisationStrategyBackground
The committee's activities expanded beyond an annual celebration, while the Urban Aid Programme created a route to formal recognition and support.
Action taken
The committee adopted the name Craigmillar Festival Society and developed charitable, neighbourhood-support and cultural-production functions.
Aftermath
CFS became a long-running community institution with paid neighbourhood workers and year-round programmes.
Recent events
- 2021
Craigmillar Festival history revisited on BBC Scotland[1]
Other
A BBC Scotland Our Story episode revisited the society's work and its closure, featuring people connected with the former organisation.
- 2021
Craigmillar Festival revived[1]
Other
The annual festival tradition associated with Craigmillar was revived after the creation of Craigmillar Now, an arts and heritage initiative established in 2020.
- 2005
Arts: The Catalyst, The Craigmillar Story receives recognition[1]
Other
The documentary about the society and the Craigmillar Festival won the Saltire Society short documentary competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
- 2002
Craigmillar Festival Society is disbanded[1]
Other
The society ended its operations and the final annual Craigmillar Festival was held during the summer. The organisation's funding was brought to an end and its projects were separated into individual programmes.
Sources1 sources
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