Move For Good brings you Scotland's first Festival of Movement, a day that champions movement for all abilities and ages.
Join us in Linlithgow for a fun day filled with opportunities to explore movement and sustainability for everyday journeys through a programme of creative workshops, talks, activity taster sessions, workshops, led walks and more. The festival will take place across various Linlithgow locations, including the Cross Well, West Lothian Cycle Circuit, The Kirk Hall and the LCDT Hub at the Vennel.
Move For Good looks to reclaim active travel beyond commuting or essential trips, encouraging people to rediscover the joy of moving in ways that work for them. With the backdrop of Scotland’s diverse and world-renowned landscapes and ecologies, being active here in Linlithgow combines the positive impacts of moving our bodies with the grounding aspect of being in nature and deepening connections to local places and histories.
Move For Good are delighted to welcome writer and artist Amanda Thomson, who will speak at the close of the festival. Amanda’s work underpins the importance of connection to place and environment, and how we can find new ways to enjoy familiar places through walking, observation and awareness.
For those looking to cycle, skate or walk highlights include:
- The ‘Cyclo-Pedia’ at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit will give opportunities for the whole family to try a range of different bikes, working with our partners West Lothian Bike Library, Cargo Bike Movement, In Tandem, Vie Velo and Thistle offering advice and taster sessions on adaptive, cargo, e-bikes and tandems.
- The installation of a mobile skate park suitable for 8 years+ for one-day-only at the Vennel with Radworx.
- Youth Space will preview their new Puzzle Quest, a new walking trail around Linlithgow designed by young people
- Led and coached cycling activities will take place at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit with Woman’s Hour and Cycling Without Age
- Come and try taster sessions for in-line skating with Falkirk Wheelers
- A 2 hour walk with local walk leader Magali Redding, exploring the best of Linlithgow’s local routes.
- Artist and choreographer Janice Parker presents a walking based workshop focusing on our senses and the ways in which we can encounter our environment, through connecting to our bodies. Janice’s practice is rooted in the politics of movement and investigates how we share spaces and experience our surroundings.
- 1st Step Bikes bring free Dr Bike sessions to the Cross offering basic maintenance checks and mechanic work for your bike just in time for spring.
The ‘Mini-Atlas of Active Travel’ at the Kirk Hall will showcase a range of our partners including Kim Harding from the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling will join the programme, and West Lothian Climate Action Network will run an interactive session about local transport to share ideas and feedback.
Move For Good are also delighted to offer a range of family friendly activities including a preview of Youth Space’s new puzzle quest; a creative workshop with A Place in Childhood that explores the local area as an island and games for the whole family with Living Streets.
Saturday 29 March will also mark the launch of Move For Good’s new culture trail, based along the NCN 754 the walking and cycle route that runs along the Union Canal. Working with artist and producer Emmie McLuskey, Emmie has invited creative responses to places along the route that draw out the many interweaved histories and stories that run along and intertwine beside the canal. Contributors include; Alan Bissett, Amanda Thomson, Cal Flyn, Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul and Janice Parker. A new map and website will host these new audio vignettes to listen to while you walk or ride along the route.
Linlithgow Community Development Trust (LCDT)'s Move For Good programme not only champions the physical benefits of active travel, but also the positive impact to community wellbeing and as a way to address climate change in our everyday lives. LCDT supports the community in Linlithgow through a number of popular programmes (Circular Economies, Solar Energy and more), Move For Good adds to their contribution and strives to support and empower the community to travel actively and sustainably in their everyday lives.