SOME of Gaeldom’s finest singers and musicians will showcase the Outer Hebrides to a worldwide audience when Scotland’s HebCelt takes centre stage at a prestigious Celtic music festival in France.
HebCelt, or the Hebridean Celtic Festival is an international event which takes place annually in Stornoway on Lewis in July, and headliners to date include Runrig, Van Morrison, The Levellers and KT Tunstall.
The islands’ language, culture and heritage will play a leading role when Scotland is celebrated at the annual Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany during 10 days of events being held from August 4 to 14.
Scotland is this year’s Country of Focus at the gathering, the largest Celtic festival in Europe, and a team from the award-winning HebCelt is organising the opening concert on August 5, which will kickstart a number of events featuring Scottish artists throughout the 10 days.
Details of HebCelt’s role were announced yesterday at an event in Paris attended by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
Hyslop said it provides a huge opportunity to promote the annual festival, which is being held this year from July 19-22, and boost cultural tourism to the Hebrides.
More than 900,000 visitors and spectators attend the Lorient festival, when Brittany welcomes other Celtic nations and regions including Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Galicia, Asturias, USA, Canada and Australia, generating about £30 million for the economy.
HebCelt director Caroline Maclennan said: “It is a fantastic honour for HebCelt to be given such a prominent role in this prestigious international festival. The Lorient event is a huge celebration of Celtic music and culture and we are really excited to be part of it and to be able to share our own traditions and heritage on this stage.”
HebCelt was invited to take part and curate the opening Country of Focus show by Showcase Scotland Expo, which promotes Scottish-based artists in folk, Gaelic, traditional, world and acoustic music to overseas music events. The show has a strong Gaelic focus and will feature a number of artists taking part in this year’s HebCelt.
Lisa Whytock, director of Active Events, which produces and manages Showcase Scotland Expo, said: “As part of our focus we are really keen to showcase the best in Scotland and to highlight the brilliance of not only our artists, but our festivals.
“HebCelt is a festival that celebrates Gaelic language and culture, the traditions of Scottish music and heritage, as well as contemporary music and the 21st century.
“It is a very real celebration of modern Scotland and the mix of music that is listened to today. It is held on one of the most beautiful islands in the world, and we were keen to highlight its scale and position in the Scottish festival calendar.”
The show will include an excerpt from Hebrides – Islands On The Edge, a beautifully shot documentary of the Hebrides, with music composed by Capercaillie’s Donald Shaw.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here