On the Rocks – Scottish Student Art Festival St Andrews, 1st – 10th April, 2016

What is the On the Rocks Festival?

On the Rocks is an annual festival, which has been staged in St Andrews every April since 2009. The festival is entirely student operated and was created when a group of students got together and merged a range of smaller, separate festivals into one larger and better event.

On the Rocks is now the largest student managed arts festival operating in Scotland and contains a wonderful blend of art, comedy, dance, fashion, film, music, photography, theatre and more. Each year there are over 40 events which form the festival, many of these are sell-outs and extremely popular within the St Andrews area.

What’s on in 2016

The following are the “headline” events, which will be staged during the On the Rocks Festival in 2016:

1. Art on the rocks – A range of art exhibitions throughout St Andrews
2. Evolving community mural – For each day of the festival various locations will build a community mural, there is a chance for everyone to get involved and help with its creation
3. Indian independent film week – From the 4th – 8th April this will investigate and highlight various aspects of the Indian film industry
4. Mandarin rouge ball – Kick off OTR with a bang with the nightclub event on 1st April. Inspired by a mix of “Moulin Rouge” and a 1920s Shanghai nightclub the result promises to be interesting
5. Music cafes – Cafes with music, what a great combination – these are located across St Andrews
6. • OTR food festival – In the Piazza space outside the Student Union is the OTR Food Festival, a range of different foods are available each day for purchase

To research the plethora of other events which are being staged in further detail visit this link.

Community based events

There are three main community events for the On the Rocks Festival, these are:

1. Relief printing workshop – Olga Krasanova an internationally renowned Printmaker hosts this workshop and displays her own prints as well as gives the community the chance to create their own
2. Dynamic collage – An event which pays homage to San Francisco Artist Rex Ray and his unique method of creating collages. Everybody has a chance to contribute and create a large collage
3. Large scale dreamcatcher – Boxes will be placed throughout St Andrews to capture people’s dreams and wishes. So share a dream, everybody’s will be collected together and formed into one large scale dreamcatcher

Venues around St Andrews

The OTR Festival is staged throughout St Andrews; here are some of the lead venues for the event. The Festival gives the chance to enjoy some great Arts whilst also visiting places in St Andrews that perhaps you’ve not seen before:

1. The Barron Theatre
2. Buchanan Lecture Theatre
3. The Byre Studio
4. Old Union Café
5. Parliament Hall
6. Rectors Café
7. St Andrews Botanic Gardens

Famous event patrons

The event is backed by a group of famous patrons from the entertainment industry. These are Andy Serkis, Crispin Bonham Carter, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Sean Connery, Simon Pegg and Siobhan Redmond.

Staying at St Andrews Coach Houses

If you are travelling to the On the Rocks Festival and are looking for quality accommodation why not consider booking one of our luxury holiday cottages located here in St Andrews.

Image Credits: Paige Matthie and Lauren Mangiaforte