Twenty-Five Years of the Fèis

KATE MARTIN reveals the story behind Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s sumptuous new book celebrating the first twenty-five years of the fèis movement

I FEEL VERY privileged to have been involved in the early days of the fèisean, and over the years have been very impressed by the way the movement has developed, thanks to the tremendous commitment of each fèis organisation, of the tutors, funders and the staff of Fèisean nan Gàidheal.

I first became involved with the fèisean in the mid-80s, when I worked with Highland Council as a Community Worker in Wester Ross, based in Poolewe. My job there involved adult education, youth work and community development, and part of my remit was supporting the Gaelic language and culture.
 
With Christine Martin, I was involved in setting up Fèis Rois, and later became secretary of the steering group for Fèisean nan Gàidheal. On secondment to the HIDB, I worked on the 1991 HI Light Year of the Arts, and helped with funding for 6 or 7 new fèisean. Later, I was involved in setting up Fèis Lochabair, and then became a director of Fèis Alba.

Around 2003, I suggested to Arthur Cormack, director of Fèisean nan Gàidheal, that it might be a good idea to have a book about the history of the fèisean to mark 25 years of the movement.

I rashly volunteered to take on the project, and Arthur rashly agreed! Inspiration came from publications produced by the St Magnus Festival in Orkney and by Eden Court Theatre in Inverness for their 25th anniversaries, and we felt that the success of the fèisean warranted a similar commemorative book.

Voluntary support is at the core of the fèisean – it’s the bond that keeps each fèis going, and in turn helps to keep local communities strong

The aim of the book was to celebrate the achievements of the fèisean over twenty-five years, and in particular to recognise the huge voluntary commitment made by local communities and support networking among a growing family of fèisean.

There would be no book without the co-operation and goodwill of all those who gave their time and support to the idea, and a warm thanks is due to all those who contributed.

We initially thought that in this modern age of e-mail and digital cameras, each of the fèisean might just write something and e-mail it in with some photographs, and that would be the job done – thanks again to the people who actually did that!

It seems, however, that people still prefer real conversation to e-mails, so we carried out recorded interviews with as many people as possible, and transcribed these as if the person themselves was telling the story.

The option of being interviewed in Gaelic was offered, and short summaries of these discussions are given in English. Invitations were sent out to fèisean, tutors funders, organisers and supporters to ask for contributions and responses were consistently positive and supportive.
 
It was a huge project, involving interviews with over a hundred people and gathering photographs, press cuttings and other materials from all over the Highlands and Islands and Scotland.

As I’m sure anyone involved with the fèisean will know, the book represents only the tip of a vast iceberg of stories and experiences about what the fèisean mean locally and nationally. However, if we’d talked to all the people we wanted to, and included all the photographs, documents and materials we collected, the book would be a four volume series, and might have been ready in about ten years from now!

We are hoping that this book will inspire other publications about the fèisean, and perhaps encourage archives, websites or exhibitions of photographs and materials from local fèisean.

This is a good opportunity to thank all those who worked on the project: Chris Deplano and Cailean Maclean were the main interviewers, assisted by Ann MacDonald and Wilma Kennedy. Chris and Cailean were also involved in gathering and selecting photographs and Cailean in particular worked with Pelican Design in producing the book.

Chris has spent most of the past year working on the project, and a great deal of the work involved in the completion of the book is due to him, which was much appreciated. We are grateful too, to Stephen Broad and Jacqueline France from RSAMD’s research centre for permission to include interviews with young people about how the fèisean can influence their choice of career, study, where they live, and attitude towards Gaelic.

These contributions were part of RSAMD’s excellent study ‘The Participant’s Story’, commissioned by Fèisean nan Gàidheal for the 25th anniversary. We also appreciate support of Northings for permission to use extracts from journal articles about the fèisean in the book.

None of this would have happened without Arthur Cormack; I cannot underestimate the thanks that are due to Arthur for his role in the project. He worked constantly on encouraging and promoting the idea, accessing funding and making sure that everything was finally in place. Arthur’s not only a great singer, he’s a great manager, and in my view the fèisean are very fortunate to have him as the director of Fèisean nan Gàidheal.

The book has come about as the result of people giving their time to talk about something they believe in. Voluntary support is at the core of the fèisean – it’s the bond that keeps each fèis going, and in turn helps to keep local communities strong.

People come into the fèisean for different reasons, for music, for Gaelic, for community, and it’s the partnership between these things that make the fèisean special – together with partnerships between local people and international performers, between local authorities and national funding agencies.

Partnership between different generations is at the heart of the fèisean, passing on values and traditions from one generation to another. So the book represents all those different partnerships, it’s the outcome of a massive amount of collaboration and teamwork.

It includes many interesting and valuable comments about the achievements of the fèisean over the years, in relation to their role in strengthening communities, promoting awareness of Gaelic; enhancing young people’s abilities and talents and contributing to the enjoyment of a confident and vibrant Scottish culture.

I hope that people will buy the Fèis book and enjoy a taste of the tremendous celebration of culture and community that the fèisean represent, within the Highlands and Islands, Scotland and the wider world.

Kate Martin is lecturer in Community Education at the School of Education, Social Work & Community Education at the University of Dundee, and is the Editor of Fèis: The First Twenty-Five Years of the Fèis Movement (Fèisean nan Gàidheal, 2006). The book is available from Fèisean nan Gàidheal and from bookshops.

© Kate Martin, 2006

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