Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre and other city centre venues are throwing their doors open to the whole community for a weekend of free family activities on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 October.

The Fun Palaces weekend is part of a nationwide campaign that shares the genius in everyone, inviting local groups and artists to create activities for everyone to enjoy.

 A host of local charities, businesses and individuals will be running activities at Perth’s Fun Palace which has a green and wellness theme.

Highlights in Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre include Gig on A Truck on Perth Concert Hall Plaza with live music from The Mad Ferret Band and Fiobha and more, plus storytelling with Bookbug. There’s a Repair Shop with the Horsecross Arts technical team, illustrator Laura Darling will be creating a waste mural that everyone can add to, and there will be a range of arts & crafts, drama and music workshops. SNP and Green MSP’s Jim Fairlie and Mark Ruskell will join Perth & Kinross Council for a Climate Café about what a future Perth city will look like. Joanna Dick, PKC Tree and Biodiversity Officer will lead a River Tay ramble. Budding performers can share their skills at an open mic led by local musician Chris Small. Live Active Leisure will be running All-Ability Cycles sessions at Bell’s Sports Centre. Mental health charity Andy's Man Club will be running an intro session about how to get involved in their work.

Victoria Beesley, Associate Director for Learning & Engagement for Horsecross Arts, the creative organisation and charity behind Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre who are organising the Fun Palaces weekend said:

“We are really excited that so many local people and organisations are getting involved with running activities for Fun Palaces. It is going to be a weekend of fun, creative, relaxing and thought provoking activities for adults and children. We have Artist Laura Darling creating a mural in the Concert Hall that everyone can come and add to, live music on our Gig on a Truck stage, a ukulele workshop (bring your own ukulele!), pumpkin planting, mindfulness workshops, Climate Cafe conversations, a junk band workshop, backstage tours, a cooking demonstration and so much more! We’re running it on a theme of greening and wellness so that we can look after ourselves and our planet as we emerge from the pandemic. It will be an enjoyable, safe celebration of our local communities with something for everyone to get involved in.”

The Fun Palaces fun starts at 10am on Saturday 2 October and runs throughout the weekend. All activities are free to enjoy and no booking is needed. Click here for the full Fun Palaces programme.

Perth Theatre’s Fun Palace is part of free, nationwide campaign that supports local people to co-create their own cultural and community events, sharing and celebrating the genius in everyone. Arts, science, craft, tech, digital, heritage, sports activities – and most importantly people – will work together, have fun together and in doing so will connect our own communities from the grassroots up. Since 2014 a total of 1758 Fun Palaces have been made across the UK and worldwide by over 40,000 local people with 560,000 people taking part, placing people at the heart of culture and culture at the heart of community.

Friday 24 September 2021