The Arran International Festival brings an exciting and diverse programme of performances to the island each year. For residents and visitors alike, it offers the opportunity to experience exceptional talent in some wonderfully intimate settings across Arran.

However, behind every event are decisions about transport, purchasing, waste, communications and much more. Through our partnership with the festival, we are helping the Arran International Festival explore how sustainability can become an increasingly normal part of making those decisions.

Bringing incredible performances to Arran

For island residents, the festival provides an opportunity to experience performances right here on Arran. Meanwhile, many visitors and holidaymakers are surprised to discover the range of unique performances available during their stay. All set against the backdrop of our beautiful island!

As the festival continues to develop, organisers Richard and Kate are also thinking carefully about its environmental impact.

Rather than treating sustainability as a separate part of the festival, they are looking for practical opportunities to make lower-carbon choices part of how the event operates.

Making sustainable travel part of the festival

One of the most visible examples of our partnership has been the use of Arran Eco Savvy e-bikes.

Where possible, Richard and Kate use our e-bikes to travel as part of organising and delivering the festival.

And those journeys soon add up!

During the 2025 Arran International Festival, Richard cycled an impressive 294 miles on one of our e-bikes!

Choosing an e-bike for journeys that may otherwise have required a car helped reduce potential transport emissions. It also helped save money and came with the added benefit of getting plenty of exercise along the way.

On an island where distances, hills and carrying equipment can sometimes make travelling by conventional bike challenging, e-bikes can provide a practical alternative for some journeys.

Showing sustainable choices in action

Partnerships like this are important because they allow us to demonstrate sustainability in a practical and visible way.

Festival visitors, performers, volunteers and other organisations can see lower-carbon choices being made as part of running a real event.

It doesn’t mean that every journey can suddenly be made by bike or that an event can become completely sustainable overnight. Instead, it is about looking at the decisions we make and asking a simple question: could we do this differently?

Transport is one example, but the same thinking can be applied to purchasing, catering, waste, energy use, communications and the resources needed to deliver an event.

Small decisions made repeatedly can begin to change the overall environmental impact of our events.

Reaching new audiences through partnership

Our partnership with the Arran International Festival also helps us reach people who may not ordinarily engage with our projects or environmental activities.

The festival regularly includes and tags us in its promotional content, helping stories about e-bikes, sustainable travel and practical climate action reach a wider audience.

That matters.

Climate action doesn’t only happen at environmental events or workshops. It can be part of our festivals, businesses, community groups, schools, homes and everyday journeys.

By working with organisations already bringing people together, we can introduce sustainable ideas in ways that are relevant to people’s everyday experiences.

Making sustainability part of how events operate

Ultimately, we hope sustainability won’t be viewed as an isolated initiative or an additional task that sits alongside running an event.

Instead, practical choices around transport, purchasing, waste, energy and communications can increasingly become part of how entertainment and community events operate year after year.

The Arran International Festival partnership is a great example of what this can look like in practice.

It doesn’t require having all the answers. It starts with organisations being willing to look at what they already do, identify where changes are possible and try something different.

For the Arran International Festival, one of those changes has been swapping some car journeys for e-bike journeys. Resulting in 294 e-bike miles in 2025 alone.

We look forward to continuing to work alongside Richard and Kate as the festival develops. Plus exploring more ways we can make sustainability part of putting on fantastic events here on Arran.

Enjoy the festival and explore Arran sustainably

Whether you live on Arran or you’re visiting the island, the Arran International Festival is a wonderful opportunity to experience an exciting range of performances in a truly special setting.

And if seeing Richard clock up 294 miles has made you curious about travelling by e-bike yourself, keep an eye our Active Travel projects and e-bike loans.

Because sometimes experiencing a different way of travelling is all it takes to start thinking differently about the journeys we make!

You can see the full programme of events below.