Two of Scotland’s best-loved cultural events are joining forces to promote Dumfries and Galloway as a centre of high-quality contemporary arts.

In May and June this year Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival and Spring Fling open studios will be offering around 200 opportunities to enjoy a huge variety visual art and craft plus high quality live performances.

They have teamed up in a campaign to capitalise on their position in Scotland’s cultural calendar by producing joint visitor information with a fold-out map displaying locations for this year’s activity. The map, which will also be available online, shows where people can find 94 studios as well as afternoon and evening performances of award-winning live performances taking place at venues throughout the region. Spring Fling studio visitors will be able to meet professional artists and makers who create high quality ceramics, furniture, glassware, jewellery, painting, printmaking and textiles.

The festival’s live performances, which take place at theatres, village and town halls, arts centres and pubs, offer the best of comedy, dance, theatre, music and spoken word.

The 40th annual D&G Arts Festival has 50 performances over 10 days from 24 May to 2 June while the main Spring Fling open studios weekend takes place between 25 and 27 May. There will also be more than 15 workshops and master-classes, evening events and public art.

The arts festival presents events in venues across the region and Spring Fling artists can be found in studios throughout Dumfries and Galloway. Among the highlights will be Lucy Porter with her award-winning show Pass it On and folk legends Martin and Eliza Carthy.

 For further details on Spring Fling please visit www.spring-fling.co.uk

For the Arts Festival programme visit www.dgartsfestival.org.uk.

Thornhill-based Cample Line join 40 artists, dancers, choreographers, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations to receive a share over £850,000 National Lottery funds in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Project funding awards.

The independent arts organisation is dedicated to presenting thought-provoking international contemporary art and film for both local residents and visitors. It plans to use the funding award to present a thought-provoking programme of international contemporary art and film, and artist-run space.

Find out more from Creative Scotland.