THIS year’s Blas Festival, currently taking place at venues across the Highlands and Islands, will finish with an impressive array of musical entertainment to celebrate St Andrew’s Day this weekend.
In association with St Andrew’s Fair Saturday, supporting Highland Migrant and Refugee Advocacy (HiMRA) and Highland Support Refugees, Blas Festival will hold seven Gaelic music events this Saturday from Inverness to Portree.
Arthur Cormack of Feisean nan Gaidheal, organisers of the Blas Festival, said: “It is fitting to end the Blas Festival with a range of events in collaboration with St Andrew’s Fair Saturday, contributing to the global Fair Saturday movement and the celebration of St Andrew’s Day.
“Fair Saturday aims is to boost social inclusion, fairness and sharing and we hope to celebrate our culture with some of the migrants and refugees who have settled in the Highlands and raise some funds for the organisations which support them.”
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Inverness will host two events. A family cèilidh dance with members of Meantime will be held at 3pm at the Spectrum Centre, whilst Gaelic singer Mairi MacInnes will sing in the beautiful St Andrew’s Cathedral in the Highland capital, along with award-winning Inverness Gaelic Choir, local fiddler Ruairidh Gollan and Cape Breton duo, Dawn and Margie Beaton; the perfect way to celebrate Scotland’s official national day.
The people of Nairn will be treated to a ceilidh dance with the Glenfinnan Ceilidh Band at the Arts And Community Centre at 8pm and Gary Innes, former shinty player and presenter of BBC Scotland’s Take The Floor, will be providing the tunes and craic, along with his band (Kim Carnie, Ryan Murphy, Ali Hutton and Rory Matheson) at Shielbridge Village Hall, Acharacle, at 7.30pm.
For those who enjoy a modern take on traditional Scottish music, neo trad trio Project Smok will be entertaining at Strathy Village Hall and will be joined by the next generation of young musicians from Feis Air an Oir.
At Ben Nevis Distillery, Fort William, Jo MacDonald, Rachel Walker and Ewen Henderson will take a light-hearted look at Gaelic song. Gaol no Gonadh?, this year’s Blas commission, will include some of the most beautiful Gaelic songs of love or loss, accompanied by interesting stories and introductions by MacDonald.
Finally, at the Aros Centre, Portree, in partnership with Urras an Eilein, there will be a concert with some of Gaeldom’s finest musicians and singers including Dr Angus MacDonald, Kathleen Macinnes, Christine Primrose, Alasdair Whyte, Stuart Jackson, Mhairi Hall, Allan Henderson and some young Feis participants.
The full programme of events can be found at www.blas-festival.com along with details of how to purchase tickets
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