Events in May
There is a lot to get involved with on Arran over the next few weeks – listed here are just some of the things taking place, with more events linked in elsewhere in the issue…
Outdoors
Seasearch course Saturday and Sunday 11th and 12th May, COAST Discovery Centre
In collaboration with Seasearch Scotland, COAST are running a Seasearch Observer course 11th and 12th May. Seasearch recording can be conducted by anyone on the seashore on a low tide, or by divers and snorkellers in the sea. No previous experience is necessary and this course is a great way to improve your identification skills whilst helping map the fauna and flora associated with our national waters.
Full details and booking link can be found on the COAST website .Featured image credit Howard Wood
Beltane Gathering Sunday May 5th, Cordon Community Garden, Arran Pioneer Project
This Sunday we will be marking the transition from Spring to Summer and the Celtic festival of Beltane with various activities at the Cordon Community Garden:
4.30am: Dawn Chorus Walk
10am: Planting ancient grains (Spelt, Emmer, Rye)
11am-2pm: Scything Sessions (please RSVP to arran@pioneerproject.scot)
3pm to 5pm(ish) – Beltane Fire + Woodcarving
All welcome to attend.
Music and Film
Gallus Brass Quintet Saturday 11th May, 7.30pm, Brodick Hall, Music Arran
Glasgow based quintet with a wide-ranging repertoire and versatile playing styles – from classical to jazz to modern. Tickets £12 – under 18s FREE. Get tickets on the door or in advance from Inspirations of Arran.
Arran Rock and Blues Festival Friday 3rd May – Sunday 5th May, Lochranza
This annual celebration invites festival-goers to partake in the enchanting experience set against the backdrop of Arran’s breathtaking landscapes. John Ross Beattie and his incredible band are kicking off the Arran Rock and Blues Festival on Friday night. For more information see the Facebook page and for tickets follow the link
Dersu Uzala Sunday 12th May 7.30pm, Corrie and Sannox Village Hall, Corrie Film Club
Dersu Uzala is a 1975 Soviet-Japanese biographical adventure drama film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, his only non-Japanese-language film and his only 70mm film. The film is based on the 1923 memoir Dersu Uzala by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, about his exploration of the Sikhote-Alin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th Century. Shot almost entirely outdoors in the Russian Far East wilderness, the film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization.
Exhibitions, Workshops, Talks
Quilt Arran Exhibition Saturday 4th May – Monday 6th May, Corrie and Sannnox Village Hall
The Arran Visual Arts Annual Art Exhibition 2024 Saturday 25th May – Wednesday 29th May, 10.30am to 4.30pm each day. Corrie and Sannox Hall.
Exhibiting at the exhibition is free and exclusive to Arran Visual Arts members. Visitors vote for their favourite art work in the ‘People’s Choice’ and many sales are made.
AVA Workshop: The Importance of Sketch Books with Tim Pomeroy Saturday 25th May, 10am – 4pm, The Ranger Centre, Brodick Castle. 
This workshop explores the phenomenon that is the artist’s sketchbook. It’s a place of action and reaction, of mistake and reconciliation, a place of play. In the Morning session participants will get outside into the landscape around the Ranger centre to do three or four quite rapid-fire exploratory sketches. The afternoon session will then concentrate on a fuller more developed sketch based on the experiences of the morning.
For more information on the workshop and details of how to book see the link here
Tuesday Talks at the Heritage Musuem
7th May, 1.30pm. Liam Turbett, “From Arran to Aragon: Bertie Milton in the Spanish Civil War.”
Robert “Bertie” Milton was born in Brodick in 1917 and grew up in the village. Between 1937 and 1938 he spent a year in Spain as part of the International Brigades, the volunteer units who came from all over the world to defend the Spanish Republic from a right-wing uprising. The remarkable story of his time in Spain – a conflict seen by many as a precursor to the Second World War (in which Milton also served) – has been uncovered by writer Liam Turbett, who published Island Brigaders last year.
21st May: Alistair Dobson. Made in Arran. For updates on this talk see the Museum Facebook page
Please note: Tickets on the day only, very limited numbers, please come early.
Also happening…
Women in Black peace vigil Saturday 25th May, 1pm. Meet at the Coastal Way marker, Shore Road, Brodick (opposite the Douglas Hotel).
Women in Black is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence. The group in Arran has recently re-started after a few years break, initially due to Covid, and meet on the last Saturday of each month. All women are welcome. Bring messages of peace, wear black if possible.
Arran Pride Saturday 1st – Sunday 2nd June, Brodick.
