Healing Arts Scotland (HAS) is back 15th – 19th June 2026 with a nation-wide event celebrating and advocating for improved physical, mental and social health through the arts, culture and heritage. It will be a weeklong series of events happening across the country and online, alongside a national conference day.
Healing Arts Scotland 2026 will focus on three key areas – Arts, Health and Environment, Innovation in Arts and Health, and Arts and Health across Life Stages, with a view to exploring, identifying clear pathways to implementation, embedding and scale.
If you were not able to join the ACHWS online conversation with representatives of the Healing Arts Scotland 2026 steering group here is the video link covering everything you need to know.
It outlines what Healing Arts Scotland is, what was achieved in Scotland through the 2024 event and how you can get involved in 2026.
Key takeaways about 2026 included:
Regional Events and National Conference Programme
Monday: Orkney, Aberdeen/Grampian, & Lewis.
Tuesday: Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee, & Shetland.
Wednesday: Edinburgh.
Thursday: National conference in Edinburgh at the National Gallery of Scotland
Friday: Glasgow and CMO NHS Conference.
The days are still in the development phase and there is a small group of people shaping and coordinating each of the days, so if anyone would like to get involved or make suggestions, please email info@achws.org and we can pass that on to the relevant person.
There will also be an online conference programme arranged by ACHWS to ensure those not able to be in the room can still join the conversation and hear from a range of speakers.
During the week of HAS, the Chief Medical Officer has aligned the timing of his Realistic Medicine conference in Glasgow and work is underway to explore how this conference and the HAS week can connect to mutually support each other.
There will also be an open programme enabling anyone who wants to get involved and do their own event to do so, and these would be listed on the HAS website. There will be a call out for the events calendar opening in January.
