Ready for folk? The Innerleithen Music Festival!

Annual weekend of acoustic music in small town in the Scottish Borders. An established Celtic music festival that augments its line-up of local musicians, sessions, traditional singing, street events and workshops with international stars.

‍
Since 2003, the town hosts the annual Innerleithen Music Festival, every August in the Memorial Hall. Acts that have played at the festival include Eddi Reader, Julie Fowlis, Dougie MacLean, Karine Polwart, Karen Matheson and Old Blind Dogs. In addition, it has an active amateur operatic society which stages an annual production. The festival programme is coordinated by a committee, but individual events are the responsibility of the wonderful performers / arts organisations / venues concerned, not the committee.

An essential part of the IMF experience – “Live and Local” at the Vale Club.  In 2019 we had 29 acts booked with around 100 musicians appearing over the weekend.   See their programme page for the line-up.

Where is the festival?

Innerleithen is a small town on the River Tweed about 30 miles south of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders.

How to get here?

Car:
The Parish Church is on the B709, about 100 yards north of its junction with the A72 High Street, signposted Heriot.

Postcode is EH44 6HZ.

Parking in the vicinity of the Church can be tight – we recommend using the Hall Street car park if possible.

Buses:

Borders Buses service X62 runs between Edinburgh and Galashiels via Peebles, Innerleithen & Walkerburn – every 30 minutes during the day, Mon-Sat, hourly evenings. Sundays – hourly all day. Click here for timetable. As of August 2017, the last buses from Innerleithen to Walkerburn and Galashiels are conveniently late – 22:55 & 23:55 Mon-Sat and 20:54,21:54 and 22:54 Sunday. Last bus Innerleithen to Peebles and Edinburgh is 21:59 Mon-Sat and 20:54 Sunday. Please confirm these timings on Traveline, 0871 200 22 33, or go to their website.

Train, using the new Borders Railway!
A new travel option has appeared since the 2015 festival, the scenic new railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank. At Galashiels Interchange you can step easily from the train onto the bus to Innerleithen. Amongst the benefits are a later Sunday evening service – leaving Innerleithen at 21:54 gets you back to Edinburgh before midnight! Check the Traveline web site to plan this route.

Festival Club + Sessions

The Festival Club is located in the Union Club on the High Street. Join them to have a look, a drink, a tune and a song! Everyone welcome. Sessions in local pubs and beer gardens to enjoy.

‍
Thinking about staying for the weekend?
The festival offers 2-for-1 admission at Robert Smail’s Printing Works for festival ticket holders!

Innerleithen’s historic Printing Works will be conducting guided tours of the works from 11am (1pm on Sunday) – 5pm (abridged tours in operation after 4pm so please allow 1.5hrs if you would like a chance to sit the first day of your apprenticeship). Smail’s is just 2 minutes walk from the Memorial Hall. For more info, visit their website or contact the Works on 0844 493 2259.

‍