What’s On in Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries & Galloway has a great variety of events throughout the year which allow you to explore our traditions, culture, have fun and meet our friendly local people. Portpatrick is only a ten-minute drive from Knockinaam. Stranraer is eighteen minutes away by car and Wigtown is forty-seven minutes away.

Highlights include:-

• SkiffieWorlds 2025 – St Ayles Skiff International (SASI) have announced that the 2025 St Ayles Skiff World Championship has been awarded to Stranraer Water Sports Association and will be held between Sunday 6th and Saturday 12th July 2025. Stranraer’s combination of sheltered water close to a long beach and all the town’s amenities, a comprehensive programme of shore events, and a warm and genuine welcome from local people, make the event very memorable.
• The British Open Golf Championship 2025 also known as the 153rd Open will take place at Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland between Thursday 17th July to Sunday 20th July with practice days from Sunday 13th to Wedbesday 16th July. Royal Portrush is only an hour’s drive from Larne which is only two hours by ferry from Cairnryan with six crossings daily in each direction. Knockinaam is twenty-five minutes by car from P&O Ferries Cairnryan and also twenty-minutes minutes from Royal Portrush by helicopter!
• Portpatrick Lifeboat Week will kick-off on Sunday 27th July.
• Stranraer Show is a one day Agricultural Show held at London Road Playing Fields in Stranraer on Wednesday 30th July.
• Stranraer Oyster Festival is one of Galloway’s biggest events and takes place from 12-14 September 2025. The community-run festival celebrates Scotland’s last wild, native oyster fishery.
• The Wigtown Book Festival is a ten-day literary celebration in Scotland’s National Book Town. The festival welcomes international audiences and a prestigious cast of authors each year. Founded in 1999, the 10-day festival is now one of the UK’s best-loved literary events with over 200 events, including music, theatre, food and visual arts. The festival starts on Friday 26 September and runs until Sunday 5 October.