East Ayrshire Council

This year is the 18th anniversary of the Darvel Music Festival and since 2002 well over three hundred acts have entertained thousands of music fans at the town hall. Visitors come from all over Scotland, the UK and beyond to enjoy the Darvel ‘Experience’ and the organisers expect a surge of interest for the four concerts they have scheduled for November 2019 and March 2020.

This year is the 18th anniversary of the Darvel Music Festival and since 2002 well over three hundred acts have entertained thousands of music fans at the town hall. Visitors come from all over Scotland, the UK and beyond to enjoy the Darvel ‘Experience’ and the organisers expect a surge of interest for the four concerts they have scheduled for November 2019 and March 2020.

This workshop is for anyone looking for a greater understanding of social investment, and time to explore the opportunities and challenges in relation their own particular scenario. Come and find out:

Come and find out what’s out there to help you make the most of your farm business, at a time when the future seems uncertain.

Hear from farmers and others involved in:

The Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS)

RISS provides you with a facilitator to get your practical, sustainable business idea off the ground

LEADER

The LEADER programme funds local projects including farm diversification.

Discuss your ideas with other farmers and RISS facilitators over lunch.

At the first Field Lab meeting in February challenges of establishing herbal leys without carrying out a full reseed were discussed with some options highlighted. 

Since then farmer Bryce Cunningham has developed a Field Lab plan, informed by Holistic Management training that he’s been on. This plan will focus on the root causes of issues that he’s having, like soil compaction.

The prolonged wet weather that we have experienced since Autumn 2017 has had a massive impact on farm businesses across South West Scotland. 

Forage shortages, slurry spreading issues, field damage and animal health issues such as fluke and pneumonia have all taken their toll on farmers, stock and businesses. Unfortunately this probably wasn’t a one off and The Farm Advisory Service are running a series of meetings across the region to help businesses recover through the spring and use lessons learnt to make plans for the future to make farms more resilient to bad weather.

The Darvel Music Company presents 'Skerryvore' with special guests 'Tide Lines' live on 8 December 2017. 

The Darvel Music Company was formed to promote music culture, music development and live musical performance within Darvel and other communities within East Ayrshire.