The Huntly Hairst is an annual festival celebrating Huntly’s local and food traditions.. It takes the form of an extended Farmers' Market across the town square, central streets and community buildings, with over 50 stalls showcasing local produce and crafts. There are cookery demonstrations and competitions, including The World Stovies Championship, Huntly's Room to Run race and even more events throughout the week. Check out the Hairst website for full details of the festival! This year, as our town comes together to celebrate the season’s abundance, our day-long Hairst programme takes inspiration from the joyful and messy nature of being in community with others. Through drop-in workshops and events, we’ll be delving into the roles that gardening, printing, and quilting have in building community, and figuring out what we can learn from them and their deep rooted histories of resistance. Check out our Hairst programme below, which is jam packed with quilt building, memory patchworking, print making, poster creating, and garden learning. We’re excited to see you there!

Our programme Square DealAll day - Quilting in Community, with Huntly Sewcial organisers Colin Brandi and Rosemary McCaffertyDrop by to contribute to a new Town Quilt inspired by the last gift you gave to a friend, family, or neighbour. Also, add your quilting recollections to our ‘patchy’ memory board, learn about the importance of quilts in building community from our pop up library, and find out more about the launch of the new collective Quilting Circle.  1.30-3pm - Mini Quilt Workshop A bookable patchwork workshop with quilters Colin and Rosemary, suitable for beginners and improvers. Learn how to make the simple ‘Sword Dance’ quilt block pattern and create a mini quilt to take home. Spaces limited, all materials and tools provided. Please book your space here. Brander Community Garden 10am-11.30am and 2-4pm - Hive Mind poster making, with artist and writer Aaron Gale Drop by to create a poster that brings our community hive mind to life at this family friendly activity. Experiment with DIY printing techniques including photocopying and collage to make posters inspired by the happenings of the Hairst, Doric language, and each others’ posters. Local artist and writer Aaron Gale will be on hand to bring your ideas to life through words and illustrations.  11.30am-2pm - Printing Press workshop, with text artist Catherine Whiteman Pop by to have a go at using a 100 year old Adana Quorto printing press with text artist Catherine Whiteman. This press has a rich community and political history, and was  primarily used to print anti-fascist pamphlets during WW2. For this drop in, Catherine will guide you through the process of printing with the Adana Quorto and will be on hand to answer any questions about its fascinating history.  10.30am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm - Garden tours with Garden Caretaker Lindy Young Join a garden tour with Garden Caretaker Lindy Young, who looks after the Brander Community Gardens. Lindy will be sharing what’s been growing this year, how our meadow, no-dig bed, and other biodiversity initiatives are working, and how the Care Plan Lindy has produced for the garden has been helping look after a beautiful, biodiverse green space in Huntly’s town centre. Also, help yourself to strawberry runners to continue the Brander Garden’s goodness in your own pots and plots, and learn about the basics of composting with Lindy’s fun game.  Square Deal GardenAll day - Quiet space Take a breather from the hustle and bustle of the Hairst - head down the pend next to Square Deal to our relaxing garden. The garden will be open all day as a quiet space. Don’t forget, Greener Huntly are also hosting a relaxed Chill by the River at Deveron Park all day.

AccessibilityAll events are free and open to all. We ask that children are supervised by their responsible adult at all times. Hairst is a really busy event in the Huntly calendar. Our events are generally quieter first thing in the morning and at the end of the afternoon, but the number of people fluctuates throughout the day. If you arrive and it feels too busy please come back as it may be quieter later. There is a guide to visiting Square Deal online here. This includes information on travelling to the venue, photos and plans of the space, and sensory information. The Brander Garden is located behind Huntly Library. Access is via the white metal gate at the top of McVeagh Street. There is an accessibility guide, with photos of the garden, online here.