The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is a National Festival that has been running since 2012. The festival was developed to promote positive attitudes towards mental health, mental illness, support and recovery, and to effect significant cultural change through the insights and influences of the creative arts. After the success of previous festival campaigns, Lanarkshire is delighted to announce their participation in the 20th Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. SMHAF 2026 will take place from Monday 19 October to Sunday 8 November. It will explore the theme of Reflections.
Reflections invites us to slow down in a world that that is moving so fast it can feel impossible just to keep up with events. How do we take time to reflect when each day’s headlines seem to be bring fresh news of political, economic and environmental upheaval? How can we properly understand our own needs when our lives are seldom calm and charged with uncertainty?
Whatever Reflections means to you, we hope you will join us as we mark our 20th Year. We’re inviting you – organisations, artists, communities and individuals – to help us bring our Reflections theme to life, and explore how looking back can help us imagine what comes next.
If you have an idea for the festival in Lanarkshire & would like to apply for some funding please complete the proposal form below & return to susan.mcmorrin@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk by 25th May 2026.