Community set for 10 days of fun at Aberdour Festival
Ten days packed with events for this year’s Aberdour Festival kicks off on Friday.
The festival, which bills itself as ‘the best small festival in Scotland’, once again has a fantastic programme of events running from this Friday (July 31) until August 9.
Organisers have excelled themselves in ensuring there is something for everyone in this community festival, whatever their interests.
Among the many highlights will be music from Skippinish, pianist Will Pickvance and Taylor Swift tribute The Eras Tour Jr. There will also be the chance to hear from crime author Harriet Tyce – known for her role in the BBC series The Traitors – when she takes part in one of the Bevvy and a Blether events.
But there’s so much happening around the village throughout the festival, which this year has a ‘Celebrating the 2026 Commonwealth Games’ theme.
Kicking off events on Friday, Aberdour Arts Festival hosts its opening evening, before welcoming visitors at their leisure on Saturday and Sunday.
The tennis club will also be welcoming primary aged children for the Ice Cream Factory Kids Tennis Tournament.
And it’s a busy day on Saturday. This year’s Royal Party will be crowned in the festival marquee at 11am, before the traditional parade makes its way through the village led by Dysart Colliery Pipe Band and down to Black Sands for the locals’ favourite beach day.
There will be stalls, refreshments and of course the ever popular sandcastle competition and raft race.
The evening will be rounded off with music from the Foo Fifers in the festival marquee.
The weekend’s fun doesn’t stop there. On Sunday the Village Market returns alongside the Donkey Brae races. There’s an evening of comedy in the marquee.
Other highlights from the week include the Scarecrow Trail; Nerf Adventure (Monday, August 3); Mr Boom (Tuesday, August 4); Will Pickvance on the piano (Tuesday, August 4); Pet Show (Wednesday, August 5) and the village sports day and family ceilidh (Saturday, August 8).
A wide range of workshops and taster sessions will also be running during the festival, offering the opportunity to try many different activities and sports.
For the kids there are arts and crafts, storytelling sessions, aerial skills, dance, game zone and much more.
Another festival highlight will be Massaoke on Thursday, August 6, when the live band plays bangers from across the decades – accompanied by giant video lyrics – and everyone sings together in one huge karaoke style event. There’s even a separate kids’ version of this event this year.
Helen Pearson, chairperson of the festival committee said: “This year we celebrate the 42nd Aberdour Festival, our much-loved 10-day community event, in what has been voted the ‘second best village in Scotland’, but to many who live here, it’s definitely the best!
"It is because of the amazing generosity of our community, in terms of time, energy, commitment, enthusiasm, as well as skills and expertise, that this village is able to put together such an amazing 10-day event.
“The committee has worked hard again this year to bring together a packed programme of music, talks, sport, dance, literature and the visual arts, and we sincerely hope that you will find there is something for everyone.
“A big thank you goes to the businesses and individuals who have sponsored events, donated funds or given up their valuable time to ensure that the festival is successful, to the shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs for their support, and to our talented sports people, local artists, musicians and performers who make it all possible.”
A full programme of events and all the necessary ticket information is available on the Aberdour Festival website