Underground Nairn

 Nairn, underground

celebrations with 

the Nairn Book and Arts Festival, 2026 

Welcome to the world beneath the town.

Under leaf-litter and stones,

Under tree root and turf,

Tarmac and soil,

There is a world of wonders and marvels.

We have reached the end of another hectic week of adventures in Nairn as part of the Nairn Book and Arts Festival

THE BLESSING

By the tunnelling of moles

And the burrowing of worms:

By the beat of the centipede’s dance

And the marching of ants;

I have been coming here for about 5 years, working with schools during the Festival, picking up a sense of celebration in the theme of the year.

This year we dived into a world undergound and overground (and only adults of a certain age then almost instantly start singing Wombles songs!). 

With our school workshops this resolved into underground animals which included the likely (centipedes, rabbits, mice, foxes, ants) and the more remarkable (unicorn moles, rainbow worms, earth dragon…)

 

=

By the running of mice
And the drumming of rabbits;

By the persistence of moulds

And the dry slither of a snake;

 

Over the days I collected images from our young artists and stirred them into a mud-wallow of a poem to welcome human visitors to our underground world at the end o the Festival Parade (including The Blessing included here, the opening quote is from a longer piece)

The Parade itself featured a spectacular beetle and an immensely long adder and millipede…and some 300 people walking, dancing, laughing and revelling in the rhythms of the local Penguin Tuxedo Orchestra and Ewan Mitchell and his band

 

Many thanks to everyone! 

Including

• Nairn Book and Arts Festival: staff, trustees and volunteers!
• Auldearn Primary School
• Cawdor Primary School
• Millbank Primary School
  Rosebank Primary School
• Amy from Naturally Useful
  

 

We send you on your way

With joy and love and wonder.