Storytelling Comes Home with 2nd Festival in Inverness

Now into its second year Inverness Storytelling Festival returns with a quality selection of storytellers, musicians, singers and poets from near and far. After a successful launch in 2015, the embers of last year’s event still smoulder in the hearth as this year’s festival expands over 8 days.  It opens with Bob Pegg’s “Black Dog … Continued

Cradle King: King James meets Shakespeare in historic John Knox House

An intimate audience with Shakespeare’s patron, King James. Brainy, dream-haunted, theatre crazy, peace loving…he’s the real-life inspiration for Hamlet & Macbeth, but whose ghost might get him first? After a successful Fringe run, Robin Thomson returns to John Knox House at the Scottish Storytelling Centre next week to perform Donald Smith’s raw, virtuoso drama Cradle … Continued

MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards 2016 Nominees

Nominees have been released for this year’s Scots Trad Music Awards, with a fantastic selection of Scottish traditional musicians, organisers, venues and events all in the running. Among the nominees are many past TradFest Edinburgh performers! The shortlist for Album of the Year, one of the most hotly contested awards, features a whole host of … Continued

Professor Gary West’s Inaugural Lecture

Professor Gary West, Personal Chair in Scottish Ethnology at the University of Edinburgh will deliver his Inaugural Lecture, ‘Performing Testimony: towards a creative ethnology for the 21st century’ on Wednesday 30th November at 5pm. As the School of Scottish Studies Archives at the University of Edinburgh reaches its 65th year, retirement is not in the … Continued

From Heritage to Creativity: Inspiration for All

Carol Stobie, Audience Development Officer at Scotland’s Urban Past, tells more about the upcoming creative workshop in Inverness on Saturday 19th November, open to all. What’s your idea of heritage? For many of us, the word ‘heritage’ can be off-putting, signifying something others decided was important and worth recording – not our own, ‘ordinary’ lives … Continued

Flying Ceilidh: Callout for Participants

To all budding aerialists, dancers and Ceilidh-goers around Edinburgh! Marie Williamson is searching for people with a love for ceilidh who may have a dance and/or aerial background that would like to join her on her first ever residency at Dance Base. During her residency she will be researching and developing a… flying ceilidh!  • The residency … Continued

Authentic Voices, Celebrations & Dedications for the 15th Carrying Stream Festival at the SSC

The 15th Carrying Stream Festival will take place in Edinburgh this year from 9-16 November and the Scottish Storytelling Centre hosts a trio of events, plus an exhibition by Charles Nasmyth which includes a large portrait of Hamish Henderson, amidst other key figures from Scotland’s popular culture and folklore.  Hamish Henderson (1919-2002) is often referred … Continued

An Còmhradh Mòr

Come and join An Còmhradh Mòr – ‘The Big Conversation’ – with leading experts from Gaelic organisations debating the future of Gaelic learning for adults. Speakers include Shona MacLennan, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Rosemary Ward from Comhairle nan Leabhraichean, Dr. Stuart Dunmore from the Univeristy of Edinburgh and journalist David Eyre. In the afternoon you may wish … Continued

Islay Sessions

Building on the success of the fantastic inaugural event in 2011, The Islay Sessions returns for its sixth year. Once again, the festival features some of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians playing in concerts and sessions across Islay and coming together for a grand concert in Bruichladdich Hall. Join Breabach, Talisk, The Routes Quartet, Sarah Hayes and … Continued

TradTalk Music: Practical Matters

TradTalk Extra: Music is the annual get together of the Traditional Music Forum. We come meet, we eat, we discuss and we play music.   This years event takes place on Sunday 27 November from 12-6pm at The Tolbooth in Stirling. The theme for our day is Practical Matters.Our members will be sharing their experiences on … Continued