To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance

Abstract

To Absent Friends (TAF) is a Scotland-wide festival of storytelling and remembrance which takes place annually from 1-7 November. Born from a desire to reduce the social isolation of people who have been bereaved, TAF provides an opportunity for people across Scotland to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people they love who have died. This article explains the rationale for initiating a participative festival of this kind, provides an overview of TAF and gives case study illustrations of four different categories of activity: public; private; community and online. It concludes that TAF enables local creativity, has the potential to engage people from all walks of life, and there is great scope for its future growth and positive impact.