Frances Brown and John Dalrymple from the We are One Scotland Team will be on hand to give everyone a very warm welcome on the first day of the festival and provide a insight and introduction to all the fantastic programme slots throughout the day. The introduction will be follwed by a hustings session from Enable Scotland

Adam is an emerging singer songwriter, producing heartfelt story telling crafted tracks. A prolific performer across Paisley, Lochwinnoch and central Scotland.

Earthing Project are a multidisciplinary group comprising of Morag McKinnon, Matthew Shaw, and Nadia Dermatopolou and were established in 2019. Since then they have shot twelve short films, one per month, between November 2019 and October 2020 . The films examine their emotional, psychological, and physical reactions to the natural world. Their collective ambition is to touch and galvanise both those who are sympathetic to environmental inter-action and those who feel their hearts are far from nature.  The films delve into ancient universal mythologies, explore a vital female surrealism, rewrite stories that negatively impact on gender, explore how we are triggered by zoonotic pandemics and look at how transformation frees us. We have all challenged our notions of what it means to survive or to thrive in nature. 

Our fantastic presenters Pauline and Michael join us to take us through this afternoon's sessions

Jessica Lee was raised on rock and folk by legendary parents (Mary Hopkin and Tony Visconti) and writes songs that reflect her upbringing and jobs in the real world.  She plays 12-string, saxophone, percussion and vocals in the Bowie supergroup Holy Holy with her father Tony Visconti and Spiders from Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey.  Jessica Lee is as happy in tiny club or a large theatre, she performs live with her acoustic guitar, percussion strapped to her army boots!

Refuweegee was set up by Selina Hales in December 2015 to provide a warm welcome to forcibly displaced people arriving in Glasgow. As a result of the amazing response from people in Glasgow and beyond, they have provided over 10,000 community-built, personal welcome packs and emergency support packs to people all over Glasgow and across Scotland.

Lydia Murphy from the Poverty Alliance will be speaking about human rights and poverty.  Inadequate standards of living, poor provision of basic goods and services, discrimination and social exclusion are all features of poverty in this country. They are also violations of our human rights. This session will give you an opportunity to explore what our human rights are, how they relate to poverty and why they matter. 

Natalie Scott and Alex Derham will be sharing their experience as a trans woman and a trans man.  Offering their perspectives from both aspects of transitioning followed by a short Q&A session.

We are all citizens, we are all equal and we all have a contribution to make. Citizen Network connects people together, from all around the world, to create a world where everyone matters.  At this session, Frances Brown and John Dalrymple tell us about their work with Citizen Network. 

Much of Jim's songwriting draws upon his profound belief in equality and social justice. His songs tell stories of beauty, prejudice, and the kindness of people. He’ll inspire you, make you laugh and cry. He’ll make you angry and calm, help you face shadows and introduce you to wonders.  Jim has played pubs, clubs, and benefits, arts centres and festivals. He’s an acclaimed singer and songwriter who has been performing for more than 50 years. 

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All Jim's recorded song lyrics are available and linked to each album, along with links to soundcloud for your listening pleasure. Click on Jim's picture below to be directed to his YouTube channel

Speech Bubble is an exciting new Scottish Charity that runs drama workshops for young people aged 5-24 with physical disabilities impacting on their speech. Last year they decided to do some film making and five of their young people each made a short film.  They learned about how to tell a story and different film genres.  Everyone chose their own styles and told their own stories and as you will see in this session they finished up with five very different films ranging from wholesome feel good to epic drama.

Braw are a Folk-Pop brother duo based in Glasgow's southside, specialising in close harmony vocals. They either perform as a duo, or with a full four-piece backing band.  ​Their unique vocal blend allows them to create innovative and original blood harmonies, while offering fresh takes on classic songs. Formed in 2019, Iain and Andrew Mundy have been performing across the Glasgow music scene. In 2021, they released their debut album, A Few Miles More, featuring singles Whisky in Hand and Home from Home. ​Whisky in Hand reached number 65 in the Official Scottish Singles Chart, and peaked at 50 in the Official iTunes Chart. It, received substantial radio airplay including on BBC Radio Scotland's The Afternoon Show, Celtic Music Radio, Camglen FM, and single of the week features on The Max and Chief Radio Scotland.  ​Braw have also become well known for their Euro 2020 Song A Long Time Coming (We're Going to the Euros) which has been played on BBC Radio Scotland's Take the Floor and Clyde 1's Superscoreboard.  Click on Braw's picture below to be directed to their website.

Well Fed and Unity Enterprise hold a facilitated discussion about communities and food poverty in Scotland

Playing an upbeat and original mix of dance floor classics from across the ages, this hard working cover band will have you dancing all night! You can check out Howling Radio's facebook page or click on the picture below to check out their You Tube Channel.

Best known as the regular character ‘Big Bob’ in the BBC drama ‘River City’, Tom is also a very talented singer, fantastic voice-over artist and composer/musician.  Tom took part in our on-line festival during CitizenFest 2020 and we are absolutely delighted to welcome him back again this year!