Robert Burns, whose 250th anniversary took place in 2009, and his poem ‘The Humble Petition of Bruar Water’ introduced a creative response to environmental concern and the proactive quest to improve local eco-systems. Burns’ poetic petition resulted in the Duke of Atholl improving the area surrounding Scotland’s Bruar Falls by planting 120,000 native trees, which in turn promoted wildlife and regeneration of the river.
Two groups of secondary students worked with music leaders to set their own waterways poetry to music, with a performance of their compositions during the Festival on the temporary foreshore of the Thames.
