Grassroots community musicmaking, combined with a rootedness in traditional Scottish music has been a great recipe for a vibrant and resilient community fiddle project aka ‘Fun Fiddle’, based in an East Edinburgh community centre, formerly a ‘Steamie’ – now The Wash House. Here Gica reflects on her twenty three years with the project.

Stepping down from running Fun Fiddle feels momentous, considering about a third of my life has been so intertwined with the project. It’s a new and unfamiliar space to be in – my first Autumn not booking venues, answering enquiries, curating classes, planning the next community performance platform, sending out mailchimps, and updating the website and so on. It’s a space to begin to absorb what it’s meant in my and others lives and I feel quietly proud, and happy that I am leaving it in a good place and moving aside for others to lead onwards in new directions, including the fiddle learners themselves who are the bedrock of the Fun Fiddle community.

📷 Gica Loening

Founded by Jenny Gardner, Fun Fiddle started in 2003 as a small informal group of adult learners in the basement of St John’s Church. When I joined in 2004, we expanded the number of fiddle classes on offer, and began to take in children too, basing ourselves in another local church hall.

With 8 years behind me as the Adult Learning Project’s Scots Music Group development worker and fiddle tutor, combined with a background in community development and health projects, I was keen to build a similar project on my local patch in East Edinburgh. I was and remain very much inspired by ALP’s ethos of accessibility, equality, and building community through shared learning and opportunities to perform for others no matter what your ability.

Jenny and I had many happy years of working together and establishing the Fun Fiddle community. In those pre-digital times (hard to recall!), we recorded and disseminated bespoke CDs for each class, with the whole term’s repertoire and each tune played slowly and then up to speed. We created Fun Fiddle tune books (now to be found online on the website), and we cut out tickets by hand, to sell in the local cake shop for the next Fun Fiddle ceilidh!

Fun Fiddle grew over the years in an organic way, with hundreds of players of all ages taking part. Alongside weekly classes, self led groups, and one to one lessons, building confidence in performing to others has always been a part of the mix, from beginners to advanced. This has involved in-house stramashes, family ceilidhs, local busks, and larger collaborations with street bands, choirs, and drummers. Portobello Promenade was the ideal platform for the famous Fun Fiddle Parade, ending at ‘the cake’ bandstand with an outdoor ceilidh.

📷 Fun Fiddle Parade

A highlight for Fun Fiddle was our youth collaboration with Porty High School kids, playing together as a big band for 2023 Scots Fiddle Festival.

The annual family ceilidh at The Wash House, features possibly the largest ceilidh band in existence, with approximately 60 fiddlers ranging in age from 5 – 85 playing together, the principle being to play the tunes you know, and then join in the dancing!

📷 Fun Fiddle Ceilidh

Playing on the stage has been such a boost for Fun Fiddlers, with simple open string parts for beginners and the tunes carried by the more advanced. A shared repertoire has very much been the key to keeping everyone on board.

A cultural exchange with Syrian refugees, newly arrived in Edinburgh, in the form of monthly ceilidhs contributed to the sense of our city being a welcoming one, with musicmaking definitely the glue for friendship and exchange across cultures. We shared Scottish tunes and dances and in turn learned Arabic dabkas and ate food together.

📷 Cultural Exchange Ceilidh

During the pandemic, Fun Fiddle played a significant local role, performing outdoors for schoolchildren and neighbours. Serenading the children on their first day back at school after covid lockdown was a moving moment for families returning after so long:

“What a wonderful way to welcome the children back to school. I’m greetin!”

“It was amazing. My nursery and p2 child were skipping and singing ‘Mhairi’s wedding’ all the way to school after hearing it! Thank you to all. 🌈💞🤩👏”

📷 Fun Fiddle Youngsters

Amongst many highlights, being nominated for ‘Community Project of the Year’ for the Scots Trad Awards 2017 brought the national spotlight onto Fun Fiddle which was an exciting buzz.

Over the years we’ve had great input from guest musicians such as Aidan O’Rourke, Liz Doherty, Fin Moore, and Mairi Campbell, as well as longer term skilled tutors such as – Ros Gasson, Rona Wilkie, Marit Falt, and last, but not least Sarah Hoy, who I’m delighted to say is now running Fun Fiddle. She is joined by Lori Watson, and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better pair to lead Fun Fiddle onwards!

Connection, friendship, and a sense of being on a shared journey, has seen Fun Fiddlers through both tough and joyous times, sharing the highs and lows of learning this (let’s face it) ‘challenging’ instrument! We’ve seen through a whole generation of youngsters, and several adults have been with the project from the start. Many have articulated how important Fun Fiddle has been for them in life changing ways:

“I had never played till I was nearly 50 and first attended Fun Fiddle when it started! I think it’s been wonderful; fantastic teaching in groups and playing with others. I have made lots of lovely friendships and have, and continue to have, great fun playing with everyone! We are so lucky to have fun fiddle on our doorstep!”

“I started Fun Fiddle five years ago and that was after my fiddle lay dormant in an attic for half a century! Just can’t believe how soon I was able to join in with tunes. I was encouraged to play in my first ceilidh, well armed with a couple of tunes and lots of open strings. I have learnt so much since my first days at Fun Fiddle because of amazingly talented teachers and being in a group of the loveliest, most welcoming fellow fiddlers, young and older! It’s amazing at how quickly you learn but most of by all the fun we have and all the friendships made!”

“It’s great to have the opportunity to play with a group of enthusiastic musicians lead by outstanding teachers. I especially enjoy playing at local events and watching everyone dancing to our music. It’s also fantastic therapy: I feel as high as a kite after each session.”

“What I have loved over the last year has been playing with other people on a Thursday evening. As well as practicing this offers opportunities for listening to each other and I think improves how we play together!”

📷 Fun Fiddle Adult Group Sharing a Tune

So where do I stand after 23 years of my journey with Fun Fiddle? I’m both proud of what has been achieved and also aware of directions the project could still go in, include securing funding for free instruments and tuition, allowing access for kids and adults who may not have had such an opportunity.

Deciding when to leave a project, especially one that has been your baby, can be a big decision, and it certainly took me a couple of years to decide. However I do so in the knowledge that the time is right for others to step in and bring new inspiration and skills to Fun Fiddle. In addition the core group of fiddlers over the years have built a strong sense of ownership and I feel Fun Fiddle is safe in their hands.

I’m delighted that Sarah Hoy together with her husband Fin Moore, have brought their Far North project southwards to collaborate for a 2nd annual weekend of musicmaking with Fun Fiddle, and as I write, a new cohort of very young fiddle players are starting up, taught by Lori Watson. I feel huge pride seeing our teenage players heading out into the world with their fiddles on their backs and I love hearing the self led adult fiddle group playing together, sharing tunes, and working things out for themselves.

I’ll finish here on a few words from Sarah Hoy –

‘I have loved the last few years of teaching and getting to know all at Fun Fiddle and I am really excited to have the opportunity to take hold of the reigns! Along with Jenny at the start, Gica has built such an amazing community and it is an honour to take that forward. I look forward to seeing what adventures lie ahead for us all at Fun Fiddle!’

The latest Fun Fiddle Ceilidh event in March 2026

Fun Fiddle with Brass Blast (Oi Musica) on Portobello Promenade 2018

www.funfiddle.co.uk | Find us on Facebook

Gica Loening is a fiddle teacher, early years community music practitioner, community activist, TRACS mentor, grandmother, gardener, and working her way towards retirement!

📷 Gica’s Farewell Do