Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail ready to hit the road with talented young musicians set to hone skills in Dingwall, Strathpeffer, Evanton, Alness, Rosemarkie, Gairloch, Ullapool and Balintore – and Belladrum!
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TWO groups of talented young musicians will take to the road once again this summer for three weeks of musical performances the length and breadth of Scotland as part of a pioneering traditional music programme established by a Ross-shire based arts organisation.
For the first time since 2019, the Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail will see young musicians from all over Scotland come together to form two outstanding bands to perform at a variety of venues throughout the Highlands, Borders, Dundee, Dumfries & Galloway and Lanark.
Performances this year take the form of everything from family ceilidhs in village halls to concerts in the woods and informal sessions in National Nature Reserves to tunes in museums, cafes and garden centres.
The Ceilidh Trail, which was established by Dingwall-based Fèis Rois, is a professional development opportunity for outstanding young traditional musicians, providing them with the chance to participate in a summer tour, with support from a team of professional musicians and specialist tutors.
The musicians spend a week rehearsing and participating in workshops, including performance skills, sound engineering and dance calling, whilst also preparing for life on the road, before spending the summer playing music at venues throughout Scotland.
This year the Ceilidh Trail will also perform at several well-known festivals including Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Under Canvas at Eden Court, as well as Cambridge Folk Festival and Sidmouth Folk Week in England.
Fèis Rois is also delighted to continue its partnership with NatureScot to feature performances at six of Scotland’s National Nature Reserves: Knockan Crag, Loch Fleet, Forsinard Flows, Beinn Eighe and Falls of Clyde, and Cairnsmore of Fleet.
The programme, which was started by Fèis Rois in 2000 and has now been adopted by a number of Fèisean across Scotland, celebrated its 21st anniversary last year and unable to go on tour as planned due to the pandemic, the organisation released an album to mark the milestone, featuring a number of past participants.
Many past Ceilidh Trail participants have gone on to carve out incredibly successful music careers including Rachel Newton, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Kim Carnie, Conal McDonagh, Mischa Macpherson, Ali Levack and Josie Duncan. The very first Ceilidh Trail was coordinated by multi award-winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, who provided the theme song for Disney Pixar’s Brave.
Participants this year include Eoin Cumming, Sheena Peteranna, Anna Scott, Freya Taylor, Charly Curry-Brown and Cassie de St Croix. Charly will be joining the Ceilidh Trail thanks to Fèis Rois’ partnership with Cambridge Folk Festival and Cassie is an exchange musician from Welsh arts organisation, Trac Cymru. The second group features Jamie Clarke, Matthias Hamilton, Calum Mackinnon, Kate Macleod, Elissa Hunter-Dorans, and Iain Hyslop.
Christian Gamauf, Fèis Rois Creative Producer, commented: “We are delighted to be able to run our Ceilidh Trail once again this summer. The programme supports young musicians to develop their performance and musical skills, whilst giving them a taste of what being a professional musician is really like. The Ceilidh Trail, which is funded this year by Creative Scotland and NatureScot, is also a hugely important cultural initiative, delivering a high standard of traditional music in places where you might not usually hear it and introducing tourists to our musical culture and traditions.”
Participants in group one are Eoin Cumming, Gairloch; Sheena Peteranna, Uist; Cassie de St Croix, Wales; Anna Scott, Skye; Charly Curry-Brown, Newcastle and Freya Taylor, Black Isle.
Also included in a second group are Jamie Clarke, Invergordon; Matthias Hamilton, Inverness; Kate Macleod, Inverness; Calum Mackinnon, Skye; Elissa Hunter-Dorans, Inverness and Iain Hyslop, Avoch.
Fèis Rois enables people of all ages to access, participate in and enjoy the traditional arts and Gaelic language through a diverse programme of activities in Ross & Cromarty, across Scotland and beyond.
Based in Dingwall, Fèis Rois is widely recognised as a national leader in the arts, particularly in music education and was established in 1986. There are now more than 40 fèisean in communities across Scotland. However, Fèis Rois is unique within the fèisean movement as it has a team of full-time staff that enable the work of Fèis Rois to take place year-round and extend well beyond the local community.
A full programme of this year’s Ceilidh Trail performances can be found on the Fèis Rois website, www.feisrois.org. If you have any questions about the Ceilidh Trail or want to ask about any accessibility requirements, please get in touch with Christian Gamauf, christian.gamauf@feisrois.org.
Trail dates include: Tuesday 19th July, 9pm, The Old Inn, Gairloch; Wednesday 20th July, 12-2pm, Knockan Crag NNR, Ullapool; Wednesday 20th July, 9pm, The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool; Thursday 21st July, 12-2pm, Loch Fleet NNR; Thursday 21st July, 7:30pm, Invershin Hotel (Sutherland Sessions); Friday 22nd July, 12-2pm, Rosemarkie Beach Café; Friday 22nd July, 7:30pm, Seaboard Centre, Balintore Saturday 23rd July, 3:30pm, Evanton Woods; Saturday 23rd July, 7:30pm, Victoria Diamond Jubilee Hall, Evanton; Sunday 24th July, 12-2pm, Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre; Wednesday 27th July, 2-4pm, Highland Museum of Childhood, Strathpeffer; Wednesday 27th July, 9:30pm, Hootananny, Inverness.
It will also take in Alness, Muir of Ord – at the Black Isle Show – the Belladrum festival and the Highland Farm Café in Dingwall and the Beinn Eighe NNR plus gigs at Applecross Community Hall, Gairloch Museum and Gairloch Community Hall in August.
On Saturday, August 13 it will hit the Unexpected Garden, Alness.
