The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival returns from 20 October to 9 November 2025 with one of its most ambitious and far-reaching programmes yet, with hundreds of events all across Scotland inspired by the theme Comfort & Disturb.
Explore the full line-up now, which includes Scottish dates for acclaimed show Batshit, the return of the International Film Awards and Out of Sight, Out of Mind, a showcase of new mental health themed theatre in Glasgow, Are You Sitting Comfortably?, and much more!
SMHAF 2025: Comfort & Disturb
Our theme, Comfort & Disturb, references the famous Cesar A Cruz quote that “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. It is a simple expression of the power of art both to challenge and to console, often having a transformative effect on people and societies. The theme was collectively chosen by SMHAF’s team of regional coordinators, along with the arts team from the Mental Health Foundation. Across Scotland, hundreds of programme events have been developed in response to this powerful theme.
As we prepare for SMHAF’s 20th anniversary in 2026, we are proud to be working on such a wide-ranging and ambitious programme.
Gail Aldam, Arts & Events Manager, Mental Health Foundation
Our theme this year is full of creative potential and was a popular choice among our team of festival coordinators. It sums up a lot of what this festival is about. We have always sought to comfort people who are going through very difficult experiences, as well as disturbing the status quo by challenging stigma and prejudice about mental health.
One of our founding principles is to provide a platform for often marginalised artists to tell their own mental health stories in their own way. Sometimes this act can be comforting, sometimes it is disturbing, often it is most powerful when it is both. And the Cesar A Cruz quote argues that who we comfort or disturb is crucial, that art should challenge privilege, power and complacency at the same time as bringing solace to those who most need it.
We are excited to discover how people across Scotland respond to this theme.”
This year’s SMHAF continues to focus on developing its programming nationally. Our annual writing awards event, SMHAF x WayWORD, will take place in Aberdeen for the first time, while the our new regional participatory arts fund, supported by the Baring Foundation and Creative Scotland, has resulted in festival events in Aberdeen, Callander, Dundee, Dunoon and Largs.
Programme Highlights
Are You Sitting Comfortably?
Are You Sitting Comfortably? is a one-day showcase of powerful new theatre writing that addresses mental health, featuring Emma Lynne Harley, Ese Ighorae, Milly Sweeney and Skye Loneragan. It culminates in SMHAF x A Kick Up the Arts, an evening of conversation and music with songwriters Emma Pollock, Jo Mango and Amy Duncan, in partnership with broadcaster Nicola Meighan’s acclaimed podcast.
Film Line-Up
The return of SMHAF’s International Film Awards will showcase films about mental health from all over the world, followed by a two-day screening programme. Join us for UK premieres of DIAGNONSENSE, about director Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård’s struggle to separate her identity from her psychiatric symptoms; Chasing the Light, a feature documentary about shocking allegations against a spiritual leader in West Cork, and a special screening of Palestine Comedy Club, a documentary following six comedians from Haifa, Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron and the Golan Heights. There are also World Premiere screenings of Scottish short films Dreamscape, a SMHAF commission directed by Meray Diner, and Edge, directed by Kal Sabir.
We are also excited to be hosting a weekly programme of pay what you can film screenings at Glasgow Film Theatre, curated by Lauren Clarke, including a 35th anniversary screening of An Angel at My Table in 35mm (also screening at Dundee Contemporary Arts), an opening night screening of A Want in Her at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, including a Q&A with director Myrid Carten (also screening at GFT), and a special presentation of DIAGNONSENSE in Aberdeen.
Out of Sight Out of Mind
Out of Sight Out of Mind is the biggest mental health themed group art exhibition in Scotland. The exhibition returns to Summerhall in Edinburgh for its 13th year, despite a backdrop of drastic funding cuts to mental health arts support in Scotland’s capital. Don’t miss the opening night, which is always a very special occasion, and you can visit the exhibition over the full three weeks of the festival.
Batshit
Winner of the Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award, this one-woman tour-de-force rips the lid off the myths of female madness through razor-sharp wit, raw storytelling, and unflinching performance. Showing at Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.
SMHAF x WayWORD
SMHAF x WayWORD present a live literary showcase and our annual writing awards prizegiving in Aberdeen, with performances by folksinger Iona Fyfe, spoken word artist Mae Diansangu, and improvisational singer-songwriter Nuna. Curated by Ica Headlam of We Are Here Scotland.
Community-Focused Highlights
Reflecting the festival’s grassroots approach, community groups and community-focused organisations across Scotland will bring their own creativity to exploring this year’s festival theme through music, film, theatre, art and other events.
Regional Participatory Arts Fund
A series of new participatory arts projects supported by SMHAF’s Regional Participatory Arts Fund, including Bodymapping, a work in progress sharing by Citymoves Dance Agency in Aberdeen, Spoken Word Supper Club, hosted by Firefly Arts in Livingston, and Surrounding, a collaborative exhibition by Dundee-based How It Felt, Amina MWRC and Dundee International Women’s Centre.
Solo Exhibitions
Artists bring their own experiences to solo exhibitions, including ir/regular (Grant Glennie at Project Ability), Twelve (Heather Bestel at Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary), The Colour of Grief (Sasha Shalmina at New Glasgow Society), and Between Worlds and Memories: Birth, Death, and Resurrection (Tigo Ayres at Leith Makers).
Liminal
Liminal is a collaborative exhibition in Edinburgh developed by young people working with the Mental Health Foundation, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and artist Louise Fraser, exploring the in-between spaces that young people often find themselves in – between childhood and adulthood, wellness and illness, comfort and unease.
Bringing Communities Together
Events are happening across Scotland to bring communities together. There’s Big Drum Circle, a vibrant, family-friendly event in Saltcoats bringing people of all ages together to connect through rhythm, joy and community; Let Laughter Light Up Your Life in Hawick, a confidence-building workshop with comedian Jojo Sutherland; and Jean’s Bothy Podcast, a new six-episode podcast hosted by writer and mental health campaigner Graham Morgan exploring this year’s festival theme.
Join us for our celebration of creativity and mental health in communities across Scotland. We hope that this year’s programme will offer comfort to people and disturb the status quo. Explore the full programme and book your tickets at www.mhfestival.com/events.
SMHAF is led by the Mental Health Foundation and supported by Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland. SMHAF 2025 is also supported by Thrive Edinburgh, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, the Baring Foundation, Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow 850, and media partner The List.
