On The Rocks Festival is an entirely student-run arts festival incorporating art, photography, film, theatre, dance, fashion, music and comedy.
The first On The Rocks Festival took place in April 2009, when a group of students decided that the separate annual film and theatre festivals should be combined to create one bigger, better event. This event was designed to showcase not only the best of drama and filmmaking in St Andrews, but to provide a platform to demonstrate the creativity and talent of artists, photographers, dancers, musicians and comedians.
The initiative attracted the attention of several influential actors and actresses, with Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Siobhan Redmond, Crispin Bonham Carter, Joanna Lumley, Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis signing up as festival patrons.
THE FESTIVAL HAS GROWN OVER THE YEARS TO BECOME THE LARGEST STUDENT-RUN ARTS FESTIVAL IN THE UK.
The festival hosts over 40 events annually, the majority sell-out performances. The University of St Andrews Students’ Association supports over one hundred different student societies and groups, and On The Rocks Festival is designed to allow each and every one of these groups to showcase their talent and to collaborate on bigger projects, helping to create a greater sense of community within the student body.
Members from the St Andrews community outside of the University are also encouraged to apply to create as diverse a programme as possible. On The Rocks 2014 featured free Community Art Workshops to further incorporate the Festival into the community, this is an area we are hoping to grow.
In previous years, On The Rocks Festival has hosted events such as the Sitara fashion show, a screening of the award-winning ‘Ebony Road’ by Maia Krall Fry, a concert by the St Andrews Symphony Orchestra and a special performance of Macbeth at the St Andrews Castle, a production which was brought to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival over the summer.
We aim to give the St Andrews community a diverse and creative programme every year!