Push the Boat Out

Push the Boat Out 2025 is here! This year’s festival sets sail from 20-23 November with a bold mix of poetry, performance, music and art in a sparkling celebration of words in all their forms. With over 120 artists on board you can expect a packed weekend full of fresh voices, and stories and experiences that surprise, challenge and delight, all while capturing the messy, marvellous complexity of the world we share.

An event unlike any other, Push The Boat Out remains Scotland’s newest poetry and multi arts festival, with a growing year round programme and a strong community ethos. 

We are inspired by the vibrancy and range of contemporary poetry, hip hop, and spoken word from Scotland, the UK, and further afield. We give poetry a new platform by creating an environment where all variations of this vital art form are encouraged to grow, evolve and even collide as we bend boundaries across artistic forms. We explore fresh, inventive ways to bring poetry and audiences together by challenging perceptions of what poetry is, how and where it can be enjoyed and who it is for. 

Year-round, we run regular online writing workshops with internationally acclaimed poets and special guests from around the world. while Rock the Boat, our hugely popular open-mic night, takes place monthly. 

Get in the boat, compañeros!