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Perthshire village with no hotel says cheers to its pop-up pub

Glenfarg lost its pub when the last hotel closed eight years ago so, every Christmas, villagers open one themselves in the park.

Group of seven men sitting around wooden tables in the Glenfarg tennis pavilion raising pints to the camera.
Drinkers at Glenfarg's pub in the park this week. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson.

When the last pub in Glenfarg closed eight years ago, it might have seemed as if villagers had two options.

They could go on the wagon, or they could cry into their carry-outs at home.

But they pride themselves on thinking differently in Glenfarg.

And so they started ‘Pub in the Park’ – a makeshift bar staffed by volunteers – instead.

Glenfarg’s pop-up pub happens twice a year – at Christmas time and during the summer.

Handwritten, tinsel covered sign, which reads 'Pub in the park, welcome! A very merry Christmas to you all'.
A warm welcome awaits at Glenfarg’s pub in the park. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

It’s based at the tennis pavilion in the park, with plenty of room for al-fresco socialising in the sunshine, and a warm welcome indoors on wintry days.

This is the third year it’s happened and “mine host” Steve Whiting has assembled a willing squad of helpers. Three or four volunteers have been putting in a shift every night of the run.

Glenfarg Community Council chairman Douglas Fraser says it’s become a real focal point for the village.

“The Christmas one is a lot of fun,” he said.

Douglas Fraser or Glenfarg Community Council
Douglas Fraser says the pub in the park helps to keep community spirit alive. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

“We find a lot of the students who have left the village are home for the holidays, and it’s nice that there’s a place where they can all go to catch up.”

Glenfarg pop-up pub mirrors bus group success

The pub in the park closes its doors on 2023 next week, but they’re a sociable bunch in the village.

For the rest of the year, there’s always the monthly pub night at the Glenfarg Community Centre, or the wine club.

And they’re an ingenious lot too.

Earlier this year, another group of Glenfarg volunteers launched their own community bus group because the commercial 55 service to Kinross was under threat.

Five volunteers walking away from a minibus with 'Glenfarg community Bus' livery
The Glenfarg community bus group also relies on volunteers. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

They now have five buses carrying 400 passengers a week.

Changed days for Glenfarg hotels

The Glenfarg Hotel closed in 2015. It’s currently lying empty after a plan to turn it into flats came to nothing.

Exterior of closed Glenfarg Hotel, an imposing four-storey building with turrets and ivy covered walls.
Villagers were left without a pub when the Glenfarg Hotel closed. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson.

The Lomond Hotel on the Main Street closed several years earlier and was demolished in 2017.

It’s now the site of a luxury flats development.

The Bein Inn, a few miles from the village on the road to Perth, is still going strong.

It acquired new tenants last month.

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