Some Summer Events are free with a purchased ticket to the garden – as always donations are welcome towards the upkeep of the garden.
The last Sunday of every month, a bus will run from Edinburgh, leaving from 21-22 St Andrews Sq, at 11.30, returning from Little Sparta at 3.00pm. The cost of the bus, including admission to the garden, is £40. Booking at https://littlesparta.sumupstore.com/products
20th and 21st June – Letter Carving in Wood Course, cost £180
9.3 0am to 5.30 pm each day
Learn the art of letter carving in wood under the tutelage of Robbie Schneider.
19th July – Film Screening: The Boat in the Writing Room, free with purchased ticket
2.00 pm
The Boat in the Writing Room is an independent documentary made by Michael Lloyd (flytingfilms.com) and Alistair Peebles (Brae Editions, Orkney), charting the year that the poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and his family spent at Gledfield near Ardgay in Sutherland, before their eventual arrival at Stonypath, Little Sparta.
6th August – Jupiter+MAKE , free with purchased ticket
11.00 am to 3.00 pm
‘Make’ is a sculpture studio developed at Jupiter Artland that opens up the experience of place in a practical manner. It is particularly aimed at young people (but open to all) and comprises of a drop-in workshop. The power of it is that visitors who are inspired by Little Sparta are immediately invited to turn that inspiration into making. It’s designed to create a feeling of generosity and captures the magic of the garden and art works at Little Sparta.
9th August – A History of a Collaboration, free with purchased ticket
2.00 pm
A talk by Hamish Glen, one of Ian Hamilton Finlay’s earliest collaborators, on the production of “Fishing News”, and other projects from the 1960s. There will also be a demonstration of the printing methods used for their publications.
22nd August – Lettering Arts Trust, free with purchased ticket
2.00 pm
A video presentation on Ian Hamilton Finlay’s lettering collaborators introduced by Mark Noad of the Lettering Arts Trust. Participants include Annet Stirling, Nick Sloan and Andrew Whittle.
30th August – Stepping into the Same River Twice, free with purchased ticket
2.00 pm
A talk by Andrew Patrizio, Professor of Scottish Visual Culture at the University of Edinburgh on the theme of Little Sparta and Water.
5th September – One Dy Creative Workshop: A Closer Look, cost £80
10.30 am to 4.00 pm
Multi media artist and garden volunteer, Anne Moar, will guide you to parts of the garden where you can take time for a slower, closer look at tiny worlds made up of mosses, lichens, and fungi. Step back and view how these flourish or struggle, within their larger surroundings of text, sculptures, architecture, plants, trees, water, and the wider landscape beyond.
27th September – Push the Boat Out x Little Sparta, free with purchased ticket
2.00 pm
Push the Boat Out, Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, is partnering with Little Sparta on a new residency programme supporting the creation of collaborative, poetry-led performance work inspired by the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay, the gardens at Little Sparta, and this year’s festival theme, The Space Between.