What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

The Stove Network

Call Directions Website Contact the organisation

The Stove is a community project bringing new life and vision to Dumfries High Street.

The Stove is open daily from Monday - Saturday, 9am to 5pm, including a cafe space serving a range of hot drinks, cake, soups and lunches. The Stove will be open for additional hours including evening times, for specific events and programmed activity. To find out about our current programme, visit our website: www.thestove.org/events

We are a membership based organisation, if you would like to get involved, there are more details on our website here: http://www.thestove.org/membership/

The Stove Network is a project to embed creativity in the structures and thinking that shape a future we all will share. The project is run by a collective of artists and other active citizens in Dumfries and Galloway. The Stove creates participatory public art events to engage the citizens of Dumfries in constructive and practical action in the town. The Stove uses a three storey building in the town centre of Dumfries as an HQ for the project and will operate 100 High Street as a social enterprise. The Stove has a membership of over 100 people ranging from café-owners and wild-food chefs to video artists and DJs. We see the arts not as something solely for an ‘arts audience’, but rather, as a vital contribution to society on all fronts. The Stove is a vehicle for practical partnerships with people and organisations working in Health, Education, Tourism, Regeneration and Environment.

30/10/2026

Interested to know what actually happens at IRL: Lab?

IRL: Lab is a one-day gathering for people interested in exploring how immersive arts, creative technology and playful experiences could help us tell stories, bring people together and shape the places we live and work in.

It's a chance to step outside your usual practice, discover what's possible and connect with people working across different creative disciplines.

Here's what to expect:
→ Hear from leading practitioners and explore examples of innovative work across immersive experiences, interactive storytelling and creative technology.
→ Take part in hands-on workshops that invite you to play with ideas, explore new approaches and think differently about how people experience places.
→ Meet artists, designers, creative technologists and people working across community development, heritage, regeneration and the arts.
→ Explore how these approaches might support your own work, whether that's bringing local heritage to life, finding new ways for people to participate or imagining a different future for your place.

You don't need to be a technologist, and you don't need to arrive with a finished idea. IRL: Lab is about curiosity, shared learning and discovering what might be possible when different perspectives come together.

The Lab is also the starting point for a wider IRL programme, with an opportunity for participants to take ideas further through a supported development cohort.

✷ Join us on Saturday 21st November at The Standard (Green Room), Dumfries ✷

Bookings now open! Reserve your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/irl-lab-tickets-2002711675533

29/10/2026

Shining Path: A Tribute to M.S.R.

Taking place on Saturday 7th November, Shining Path is an event honouring the life and work of Marcus Stephen Rafferty, our much missed chef at The Stove Café.

The afternoon begins with an ambient art exhibition of Marcus’s work at HOME from 3–6pm, followed by a rave The Grain Store from 6pm–1am, featuring MONOX x Shining Path DJs.

Entry is free, with donations gratefully accepted in support of cancer research.

A wonderful occasion to celebrate Marcus and the huge impact he had on those around him ❤️

28/10/2026

Bookings are now open for IRL: Lab!

Join us in Dumfries town centre on Saturday 21st November for a day exploring how immersive arts, creative technology and experience design could open up new possibilities for our places and communities.

Through inspiring talks, case studies, interactive workshops and opportunities to connect with others, IRL: Lab offers a chance to discover new approaches, experiment with ideas and explore what happens when creative disciplines come together.

Whether you’re an artist, creative practitioner, work with communities or are simply curious about what these approaches could make possible, there’s a place for you at the Lab.

You don’t need technical experience or a fully formed idea to take part. Just bring your curiosity, a question or a challenge you’d like to explore.

➡️ Save the Date!
🗓️ Saturday 21st November 2026 | 9am - 5pm
📍 The Standard (Green Room), Dumfries town centre

🔗 Book your place via Eventbrite - link in bio!

IRL is delivered by The Stove Network, with support from the Pathways Communities Fund.

27/10/2026

What could creative technology open up for the places and communities we work with?

Introducing IRL, a new programme from The Stove Network exploring how immersive arts, interactive technologies and playful experiences can inspire new ways of gathering, storytelling and shaping place.

The programme brings together artists, designers, creative practitioners and people working with communities to explore new possibilities for creative placemaking, heritage, regeneration and civic participation.

The first opportunity to get involved is IRL: Lab, a one-day gathering in Dumfries on Saturday 21st November, bringing people together for talks, hands-on workshops, experimentation and conversation.

Curious about what creative technology could mean for your work, your practice or your place?

Bookings open this Wednesday, with more details coming soon!

23/10/2026

Over the past year, Moving Stories has brought together communities, creative practitioners, local organisations and active and sustainable travel partners across Dumfries and Galloway, to share stories and explore how we move through our places.

Our part in delivering Moving Stories has come to an end, and we’re handing over the brand, campaign and social media accounts to Dumfries and Galloway Council to take forward the next phase.

We’ve been inspired by the stories that have been shared, the connections that have been made and the ideas that have emerged. Through our What We Do Now network, we’ll continue exploring some of those possibilities with community partners.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey so far. We’re delighted Moving Stories will continue to reach new people and places.

Read the blog to find out more: https://thestove.org/moving-stories-the-journey-continues/

22/10/2026

Update to Our Programme...
Due to tomorrow’s weather warning, the Loose Goose will be landing in Wigtown today instead! Catch them at the Merse, Wigtown, until 17:00

20/10/2026

Wild Goose Festival comes to the region this week, bringing creative writing, sound foraging, a supper club and more. Explore the programme on the Wild Goose Festival website!

https://wildgoosefestival.scot

14/10/2026

The Where in the Wild Story Hub is at the heart of the High Street and this year’s festival: a place for stories to land and a space to gather. Bring a story about a place that matters to you, listen to someone else’s, make something with your hands, or follow a conversation somewhere unexpected.

Coming up this week:

1. The Writing Life with Stephen Rutt
Find words for the places and wildlife around you. Nature writer Stephen Rutt shares his writing life and leads informal exercises to help your own story take shape.

2. Telling Stories with Sound with Paragon
Where have you been? What did you see there? What did it sound like? Join Paragon Music for a fun, accessible afternoon of music-making inspired by your travel stories.

3. Carrying Fire with David Hughes
A redstart carries fire across nine waves in this tale of gift, risk and possibility. Join David Hughes for this Scottish International Storytelling Festival event.

4. The Antler & The Wing with Franziska Droll & Mollie Davis
Step into a forest of music, folklore and shifting shapes. Droll & Davis weave stories from the Black Forest and Scottish Highlands. A Scottish International Storytelling Festival event.

Book your place on our website — https://wildgoosefestival.scot/events/

13/10/2026

How well do you really know our geese?

Join local goose expert Dr Larry Griffin for an informal evening exploring the lives of the wild geese that make Dumfries & Galloway their home each year.

From traditional metal and brightly coloured leg rings to modern GPS trackers that let us follow their movements from our phones, the ways we observe geese have changed dramatically. But what can these rings, pings and sightings actually tell us about their lives, journeys and the challenges they face?

With stories, photographs and a presentation drawn from a lifetime of working with and following geese, Larry will share what he’s learned along the way.

Come for the geese. Stay for the stories. Book your place on our website — link in our bio.

Made possible by Nith Life

06/10/2026

Join What We Do Now Members Nith Life, tonight, for the Annual General Meeting at The Bridge, Dumfries

Address

100 High Street
Dumfries
DG12BJ

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441387252435

Website

http://www.thestove.org/

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