Date: Saturday 26th October - A VERY busy day!!

Activity: Make your own Lip Balm from natural ingredients with Plant Ideas.

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 12.45pm
Book your Place: £5. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 12.
Everyone needs and uses lip balm at some time in their life!! A learning experience ...where you get to take home something useful that you have created. A totally new concept in workshops for Perthshire Amber! Read all about Plant Ideas and visit their website and you're sure to want to take part in at least one of their activities this weekend.

Activity: Make your own Bath Melt from natural ingredients with Plant Ideas.

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 1.15pm
Book your Place: £5. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 12.
Everyone enjoys a good soak! Come and discover how you can make yours (literally) extra special. Another great idea from our Plant Ideas team.

Activity: Come and Try Group Singing for Fun with Gillian Frame.

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms.
Start Time: 2pm
Book your Place: £5. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
Not only is Gillian a wonderful performer, she is also a great 'inspirer' and her work with encouraging adults and children to find their own voice and sing together with others has led to a number of choirs and singing groups...the Hidden Lane Choir (which began at the Hidden Lane Festival) being a great example. So come along and try your own voice...you never know where it will lead!

Activity: Come and Discover 'Amber Tales'  - stories of the season. StoryTelling for children & adults - with Lindsey Gibb

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 3.15pm
Book your Place: £5 (for one child with adult). Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
Lindsey Gibb grew up surrounded by stories, listening to them, reading them and making them up ...and carried on doing so weaving them into her various careers. By chance she found the traditional art of storytelling and got involved by becoming a founder member of Blether Tay-gither, Dundee’s Storytelling group and of Silver Branch, Highland Perthshire’s Storytelling group. She tells stories from around the world, Travellers tales, Tall tales and many others often with an environmental theme. For Perthshire Amber there will be an autumnal theme.
Lindsey has 'told' at a wide variety of venues to a range of audiences including the Edinburgh Fringe, Big Tent Festival, a wedding, and walking with Reindeer dressed as an elf....at a certain local festive event! Above all she is engaging and involving. Everyone loves a good story...so come along and enjoy one with Lindsey!

Activity: Make your own Moisturiser from natural ingredients with Plant Ideas.

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 4.30pm
Book your Place: £10. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 12.
This is a longer process and involves more natural ingredients but what you take home at the end of the day is something very special!

Activity: Come and Enjoy the SongMakers.

Location: Wee Festival Hall, Upstairs at Amber Central.
Start Time: 4.30pm
Book your Place: £10. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
A rare opportunity to enjoy a musical exchange between three wonderful singer-songwriters - Karine Polwart, Finlay Napier, Callum Buchanan.

Date: Sunday 27th October

Activity: Come and Try Penny Whistle with Kenny Hadden.

Location: Wee Festival Hall, Upstairs at Amber Central.
Start Time: 10am
Book your Place: £7. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 15.
Last year's (and the year before's) introduction to penny whistle with Kenny was enjoyed by all … including Kenny! So he's back again to share his wealth of tunes and patient teaching style with all who'd like to be able to learn. Whistles will be available at cost price (£5) and you don't need to have played any kind of instrument before. Just book in early and begin on the road to a new musical skill!

Activity: Come and Discover Handbell Ringing! with the Parish of Dunkeld Handbell Ringers

Location: Wee Festival Hall, Upstairs at Amber Central
Start Time: 12midday
Book your Place: Free of Charge.
Don't miss this special experience!
The Parish of Dunkeld Handbell Ringers is one of the most active handbell groups in the country with the ringers raising thousands of pounds for charity. Under the musical direction of Heather Maclean (a wonderful soloist herself!) they travel widely to ring in many different venues, the most notable being: Iona Abbey, St. Giles’ Cathedral, Duart Castle, Falkland Palace and The National Museum of Scotland. In support of The British Heart Foundation and Macmillan Cornhill, Perth, they have produced 3 CDs and 3 DVDs, one including scenes of Dunkeld Cathedral and its beautiful surroundings, one of their tour to the Orkney Islands and another of their tour to Oban, Mull and Iona. They aim to promote the art of handbell ringing amongst the wider community and are delighted to be ringing as part of The Perthshire Amber Festival for the seventh consecutive year! Our festival team are always delighted to welcome this talented team...and locals and visitors alike are transported by the magical sound of the bells!

Activity: Come and Try Fiddle with Gillian Frame

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms.
Start Time: 1pm
Book your Place: £7. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
Ever fancied trying a new instrument? Learning the fiddle is great fun and an emphasis is usually put on playing in group situations, which leads to lots of performance opportunities.  Students can learn about Scotland’s culture and history through fiddle music and when playing Scottish music are often invited to perform at celebrations such as Burns Day, New Year, Tartan Day and Highland Games…celebrations which take place all over the world.

Over the last ten years Gillian has been doing an increasing amount of fiddle teaching.  She is currently a peripatetic teacher for North Ayrshire Council and taught weekly lessons in Lomond School in Helensburgh for over ten years.  The list of other freelance work is extensive including working for the RSAMD, Celtic Connections, most traditional music organisations in Scotland and numerous festivals and music camps in North America and Europe. She is equally happy teaching adults and young people at all levels…but this is an introduction to fiddle so come and have a go…even if you don't own your own fiddle we can always loan you one to 'explore' on!

Activity: Make your own Medicinal Teas from natural ingredients with Plant Ideas.

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 2pm
Book your Place: £10. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 12.
A great follow up to the Medicinal Herb Walk happening in the morning, this is a longer session for those who are interested in herbal remedies ... or wonderful tasting teas. Make a tea to suit your mood or need under the expert guidance of the Plant Ideas team!

Activity: Come and Try Bodhran with Mark Maguire.

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms
Start Time: 2.45pm
Book your Place: £7. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
A welcome return  (yet again!) of this popular workshop!...so many requests for it!!
Mark is a member of the Scottish Band Deaf Shepherd and is an eight times All Irish Drum Champion as well as an All Irish Bodhran Champion. He is now in great demand as an adjudicator for competitions as well as for his teaching and worships (having taught bodhran at the Cleveland Music Academy, USA). Don't be put off by his credentials though … Mark is a good fun guy who will ease you into playing the bodhran, demonstrating and exploring some of the different rhythms and techniques.

Activity: Make your own choice of skin care product with Plant Ideas

Location: In the Yurt, Stanley Hill, Dunkeld.
Start Time: 3 - 4pm
Book your Place: £10. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited to 12.
The mixed workshop is a chance to try making 2 skin care products of your choice from the range of options currently available - Moisturising Cream, Bath Melt, Lip Balm or Massage Bar. This is a great opportunity to learn first hand the simplicity of making a high quality product of your own, purely from natural and safe plant based materials.

The yurt provides a lovely backdrop to what is a warm and welcoming space created by Natasha and Eleanor. Also in the yurt are a series of information boards that contain fascinating details of plants that are commonly regarded as weeds - particularly their amazing health giving properties. There will also be kits available to buy for those who are interested in exploring these ideas further in their own home.

Activity: Come and Try Tune Accompaniment for Guitarists with Finlay Napier.

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms
Start Time: 4.15pm
Book your Place: £5. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
This is a good opportunity for all those who usually come to Dougie's guitar workshop. With all the concerts this year we're giving him a break from the instrument workshops that he has done since the first years of the festival.
As well as being a great songwriter and entertainer, Finlay is a fine guitarist and 'sessioneer extraorinaire'! He'll share his enthusiasm and techniques for all of you who wish that you could join in with the songs and tunes at sessions but have never had the nerve...or for those who want to improve their ability to join in! Finlay can cope with you all...this should be a good fun workshop.

Date: Saturday 2nd November

Activity: Come and Discover Beekeeping.

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms
Start Time: 12midday
Book your Place: Details TBC
Back by popular request!

Activity: Come & Try Group Singing with Christine Kydd.

Location: Upstairs at The Perth Arms
Start Time: 2pm - 3.30pm
Book your Place: £5. Pre-booking essential from Festival Office BOOK ONLINE or Tel: 01350 724281. Numbers limited.
Learn some great new songs and join the group singing with Christine Kydd and local fun choir Just Singin'.  This year Christine will focus on songs of nature to chime with the VisitScotland 'Year of Natural Scotland 2013'. Learn songs to perform together with Just Singin' today at Perthshire Amber Open Mic!