The Cumnock Tryst

For a few autumn days the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock becomes a meeting place for music. Founded by composer James MacMillan, The Cumnock Tryst brings some of the world's greatest musicians into local venues, churches and halls, with the community at the heart of all of its activities. The Festival’s name, The Cumnock Tryst, was inspired by a piece of music James MacMillan wrote in the 1980s when he was still living in Ayrshire. This was a setting of William Soutar’s love poem, The Tryst. Tryst is an old Scots word which means a meeting place, or a romantic rendezvous. The town of Cumnock itself ties into this sense of coming together as its Gaelic name, comunn achadh, means place of the confluence, as the town sits where the Glaisnock River and the Lugar Water meet. For four packed days and nights The Cumnock Tryst is a meeting place for music-lovers.