Dumfries & Galloway’s much-loved Wild Goose Festival returns for its sixth year, with a vibrant programme running from 17–26 October 2025. Celebrating the region’s landscapes, wildlife, and cultural heritage, the festival invites visitors of all ages to explore, imagine, and move with curiosity.
Working in collaboration with more than 40 partners and facilitators, the 2025 festival will feature over 70 events and activities across ten days, with additional fringe events throughout October. From hands-on workshops and family-friendly activities to inspiring talks and outdoor adventures, the programme offers something for everyone while encouraging reflection on our connection to the natural world.
A key highlight of this year’s festival will be the launch of the Wild Goose Festival Hub at Dumfries & Galloway Carers Centre on Nith Place. This welcoming space will host a dedicated programme of free, creative, and educational workshops, with more than 20 events across eight days. From arts and crafts and interactive performances to outdoor, nature-based activities, the Hub provides opportunities for connection, reflection, and wellbeing.
At the heart of the festival lies the extraordinary story of the barnacle geese, which migrate each year from Svalbard to the Solway estuary. Rooted in this remarkable journey, the Wild Goose Festival honours the ecological and cultural ties that shape Dumfries & Galloway.
Wren Winters, Wild Goose Festival Coordinator comments, “We’re delighted to be back for a sixth season of the Wild Goose Festival, working with our partners to deliver our most exciting programme yet. Inspired by the remarkable migration of the barnacle geese, this year’s theme of care and connection encourages us all to reflect on how we look after one another and our environment. We’re particularly excited to launch the Festival Hub at the Dumfries & Galloway Carers Centre—a fitting home that highlights this year’s focus on community, creativity, and wellbeing.”
This year’s event comes with the exciting announcement that the Wild Goose Festival has been awarded the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere Green Charter Designation—a milestone that highlights the festival’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, biodiversity, and community.
Jake McLaughlan, Business Engagement Officer at Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Partnership said:
“Our warmest congratulations to The Stove and everyone involved in putting together the Wild Goose Festival on achieving our Sustainable Event Charter for 2025. Through The Stove’s exemplary work, the Wild Goose Festival demonstrates how sustainability can be embedded in planning, resourcing and operations by events at any scale, and how this can be a part of celebrating not only history and heritage but our vision for the future. We are delighted to make this award and look forward to another outstanding event in October.”
Produced by The Stove Network, Wild Goose Festival is part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2025 and proudly supported by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Dumfries & Galloway Council, Annandale & Nithsdale Community Benefit Company, and Creative Scotland.
This years’ key festival partners include Annan Harbour Action Group, Arts D&G, British Trust Ornithology (BTO), CatStrand, Climate Kitchen, Coach & Horses Inn, Creative Stranraer, Cycling
Dumfries, Devil’s Porridge Museum, Doughlicious, Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service (East), Fair Scotland, Findhorn Bay Arts, Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Partnership, LIFT D&G, Loch Ken Trust, Loreburn Hall, Mostly Ghostly, NatureScot, Nith Life, Parkrun
RSPB Scotland, Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Sculpture Placement Group, Scottish Ornithologist Club, Solway Firth Partnership, Species on the Edge, St. Michael’s Church, The Depot, The Imaginarium, The Stove Network, Travelling Gallery, Unexpected Garden, Write!, WWT Caerlaverock
More information about each of the partners involved, and find out what’s planned for this year’s festival, visit: wildgoosefestival.scot
The Out & About section in Dumfries & Galloway is headlined by Gretna Green
A Place to Escape From it All – Scotland’s most romantic destination since 1754
Discover Gretna Green
