Festival 2023

People who have died remain a part of our lives – their stories are our stories, yet many Scottish traditions relating to the expression of loss and remembrance have faded over time.

To Absent Friends gives people across Scotland an excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died. To Absent Friends, a People's Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create new ones. The 2023 edition will be the festival's 10th anniversary.

The next annual To Absent Friends festival will take place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2023.

How to get involved

If you'd like to plan an event or activity for your community or for the public, you can find some ideas here or by looking through the listings for past festivals. We also have resources for how to take part online or in private.

You can check the listings of To Absent Friends 2023 for events happening near you, online, or in your community here. If you have an event to add to the listings, please email event details and a photo to samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the festival, we have commissioned a public art project called "The Library of Legends", which will appear in central Edinburgh and online for the entire week of the festival. You can find out more about the Library, how to visit, and how to get involved from anywhere in Scotland here.

Photo credit: RAMH Acumen