Stirling 900
Artlink Central & Stirling 900
Creativity, community and culture at the heart of a landmark year
In 2024–25, Stirling marked the 900th anniversary of its Royal Burgh status with a year-long creative celebration led city-wide by Scene Stirling, bringing together artists, organisations, communities, educators and cultural partners. As one of Scene Stirling’s core partners, Artlink Central played a central role in commissioning, producing and delivering programmes that helped shape the spirit and success of Stirling 900.
Our Role
Throughout the anniversary year, as leads for Scene Stirling we worked with a wide range of community partners to deliver inclusive, participatory and artist-led work across the region. Our contributions focused on:
Community-led creative participation
Working with diverse groups including people with lived experience of mental health challenges, learning disabilities, long-term conditions, and intergenerational community audiences.Artist commissions & collaborative making
Supporting local artists to create new work for Stirling 900 — from visual art and film through to storytelling, installations and performance.Accessibility & inclusion
Ensuring that celebrations reached people who are often excluded from large cultural programmes, through co-design, creative care approaches, and supported participation.Creative wellbeing
Embedding trauma-informed and person-centred practice to ensure people could build skills, confidence and connections as part of the anniversary activities.
Stirling 900 — Headline Highlights
City-wide, Stirling 900 delivered an ambitious, collaborative cultural year that reached audiences and communities across the region.
Key facts:
140+ events took place across the anniversary programme.
100,000+ visits/attendances were recorded across Stirling 900 activities.
Hundreds of artists and community contributors took part across commissions, projects and performances.
The finale weekend included a major city parade of around 900 participants, including ~350 musicians, and large free public events at Stirling Castle.
As part of a wider uplift in cultural activity, 2024 also saw increased tourism and economic impact across the Stirling area.
(These figures represent city-wide impact. Artlink Central’s direct contributions to Stirling 900 were delivered through our own commissioned work, community programmes and partnership activity.)
Looking Forward
Stirling 900 has left a lasting legacy of participation, creativity and collaboration.
Many of the communities and artists involved in our projects during the anniversary year continue to shape Stirling’s vibrant cultural future — including work linked to the redevelopment of the new Falkirk Town Hall, ongoing creative health and wellbeing programmes, and future large-scale celebrations such as Culture Night Stirling 2026.