Tuesday 31 July 2012

Persia comes to Edinburgh

A KEY element of the the 2012 Festival of Spirituality and Peace (3-27 August) will be the Persian Tent Village at St John's, which runs throughout the Festival.

Yousef and an extraordinarily dedicated team at Persian Rug Village in Morningside are the creators of this magical experience.

The Village has built a reputation as a leading centre of excellence and expertise in oriental carpets in Scotland.

Much more than a business, it nevertheless provides professional cleaning and repair services for handmade rugs as well as offering advice and a personal service to people and organising cultural events within the wider community.

A spokesperson explained: "We specialise in the finest quality traditional rugs, many of which are designed and created in our own workshops in Persia and Turkey."

"Made from natural and sustainable materials, our rugs are hand-crafted using tools and techniques which have been handed down through the generations.

"The intimate relationship we have with our craftsmen ensures a high degree of quality control and keen prices."

Edinburgh's Persian Rug Village also enjoys a close relationship with the Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey, offering classes and work experience to art students involving carpet creation, maintenance, and repair.

The special preview of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace Persian Tent Village experience takes place at St John's on Thursday 2nd August from 6-8pm.

Friday 27 July 2012

School of the heart

A 'SCHOOL of the heart'. That could be a good name for the Festival of Spirituality and Peace. It's also the name of a fine blog from Jesuit priest Fr Tim Byron, currently working in Edinburgh in the city centre parish of the Sacred Heart.

Tim's blog has that title. In Latin it's Schola Affectus. He writes: "Having returned to Edinburgh from beautiful Arisaig it is impossible not to notice all the posters that have popped up all over the place.  They announce the imminent arrival of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival and its 23 associated festivals.  There are book festivals, jazz festivals, politics festival, contemporary art festivals, street performance, internet festivals and interestingly a festival of spirituality and peace.

"In its twelfth year, the base ... is an Episcopalian Church, St Johns on Princes Street although there are over 400 activities across 21 venues. With speakers, conversations, performances, film, food, exhibitions, family activities, workshops, art, culture and more ‘FOSP’ is now looking forward to its twelfth year.

"The programme is eclectic varying from a Soweto based dance troupe, Poetry in a Persian Tent, sessions on Ethical Banking, Jewish storytelling and Asian & Arabic fusion dance.  I am booking tickets for some discussion events, including one with the title of ‘Where are the Organisational Healers?’ and another intriguingly entitled ‘Churches own 8% of the planet’."

You can follow Tim's blog here.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Take a real break with FoSP

THE Festival's first Scotsman advert, one of four, appeared this weekend... attracting people looking for holidays!

With weekend breaks proving popular for people who want to get away but have to keep an eye on the pounds, the paper's offers are proving a good draw.

Meanwhile, those who are going to be in Edinburgh in August (the biggest draw of all!) now know about one of the capital city's most innovative and dynamic Festivals.

Featured events include the fabulous Soweto Entsha, Charles Handy on alternative ways of thinking about work, Poetry at the Persian Tent, Last Tango in Edinburgh, and women in Afghanistan's conflict.

You can view the whole programme online here.


Friday 13 July 2012

We're back!

THE 2012 Festival of Spirituality and Peace is now only three weeks away... and everything is gearing up with increasing speed.

That includes our news and social media operation. Spirituality & Peace News is in the process of gearing up, and re-launches officially with daily updates from Monday 16th July.

We have lots of exciting things in store for you - previews, ideas, updates, background information, still and moving images. This is the place to keep in touch with what's going on as the Festival moves towards lift off.

The Festival of Spirituality and Peace is now in its 12th Year.  

The journey begins once more...

Thursday 12 July 2012

Our shiny new brochure...

THE Festival of Spirituality and Peace brochure for 2012 - packed with information about hundreds of events at St John's Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, and 20 other venues across the city - is already a big hit.

"Inspiring!", "Colourful," "showcases the most imaginative Festival of the season," and "Your best yet!" are just some of the comments we've received. You can pick up your copy in person at St John's, or from one of dozens of outlets across the Capital. You can also get all the details online, of course.