Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to celebrate its 20th year
This year’s line-up includes a new partnership with Summerhall, six artist commissions, an International Film Awards programme, and more than 180 events nationwide
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is celebrating two decades of creative programming with a packed line-up of 180 events across the country. Taking place from Monday 19 October–Sunday 8 November, this year’s programme will explore the theme of ‘reflections’ via film, theatre, music, visual arts, writing, comedy, creative workshops and community events.
New to the festival is a special partnership with Summerhall in Edinburgh for a three-week run of performances and exhibitions, including Beth Wants D (which won the 2025 Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award); The Rhinestone Cowboy, a play about schizophrenia by the Leith-based poet Hjarta; and the launch of a new SMHAF commissioned EP by Jo Mango. Also at Summerhall are the group exhibitions Out Of Sight Out Of Mind and Reflect, Reclaim, Reimagine.
In Glasgow, SMHAF International Film Awards programme will featuring award-winning documentaries and features from across the world, including What Will I Become?, which sees two filmmakers journey across the US to understand their own trans boyhood through the legacies of two young trans men who died by suicide; Finding Calm, about the pressures of new fatherhood; and Rendered in Light about a software engineer who creates therapeutic VR programme for children in Gaza. Other films showing across the country as part of the festival include a preview screening of Clio Barnard’s highly anticipated I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.
Other strands of the programme include The SMHAF Writing Awards, hosted by Len Pennie; A Young People’s Programme featuring workshops and free and low-priced performances tailored to those aged 16–25; and even more events taking place in areas as diverse as Perth, Stirling, North Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, South Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, Angus, Dundee and Falkirk.
This year the festival has also commissioned six artists (Jo Mango, Nat Ophelia Walpole, Kelly Zou, Mairi Timoney, Steven Jones and Jasmine Esme) to create new works responding to the Reflections theme, and exploring how identity, motherhood, bullying and trauma have shaped their mental health.
Gail Aldam, arts and events manager for the Mental Health Foundation, said: ‘For 20 years, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival has brought together artists, communities and audiences across Scotland to explore mental health through creativity, culture and conversation. As Scotland's leading arts and mental health festival, SMHAF continues to provide a unique platform for challenging stigma, sharing experiences and creating meaningful opportunities for connection. This year's programme reflects the creativity, diversity and ambition that have defined the festival over the past two decades, while demonstrating the important role arts and culture can play in supporting mental health and wellbeing.
‘Marking our 20th anniversary, the theme Reflections invites people across Scotland to look back on personal and collective experiences, consider how they shape our mental health today, and imagine the future we want to create together. Whether taking part as artists, audience members or community participants, everyone has a place at SMHAF. Through film, visual arts, performance, literature and community events, the festival celebrates diverse voices, amplifies lived experience and highlights why investment in creativity, culture and community remains essential to building a mentally healthier Scotland.’
Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, various venues, Scotland, Monday 19 October–Sunday 8 November.