THE BLAS Festival was in the news earlier this year for the wrong reasons following the announcement of a planned 30% cut in the festival’s funding from Highland Council, as part of the current drive to make massive savings in spending.

There were fears that the cut might mean that this year’s festival was the last, but Donna Macrae, the Festival manager, remains optimistic that they can weather the storm at least in the immediate future, as she explains in our interview this month.

Further cutting back may prove necessary, but as I have said before in this column, we are in what is likely to be a period of considerable retrenchment for the arts, and a focus on core activities and keeping afloat is likely to be the order of the day for the foreseeable future, and not only for Blas.

The continuation of the event is good news, though. Blas has been a very welcome addition to musical life in the Highlands and Islands, and has succeeded in putting Gaelic at the front of its activities in a very user-friendly way.

On the subject of welcome additions to musical life, the Highland Chamber Orchestra enjoyed a very successful 10th anniversary celebration last month, including their first performance at Eden Court Theatre. Our congratulations go to the players, conductor and composers involved, and to those working behind the scenes, and we wish them all well for the next ten years.

Creative Scotland, the new body taking on the functions of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, have finally launched their new website, and I’ve already had people involved in the arts tell me they are less than impressed with what it has to offer. Creative Scotland are inviting users to tell them what they think about the new site (just go there, have a look, and submit your views via the links on the site).

Dogstar Theatre’s new production of Henry Adam’s Jacobite Country goes on tour around the region this month, but not exactly in a blaze of glory. Reactions to the play have been mixed, and often openly hostile.

I had my own major reservations about the show, but on the principle that there is no substitute for making up your own mind on these things, I would still urge you to go and see it if it comes you way in the course of the tour.

There are undoubtedly problems with the script, but the production is fast moving and energised, the four actresses deserve great praise for their performances, and the audience seemed to respond well on the night I saw it at Eden Court.

As well as Blas, September also means Loopallu, and the popular Ullapool festival returns with a line-up that includes The Magic Numbers, Idlewild, Aberfeldy and Turin Brakes among the headliners. Up in Shetland, the Wordplay and Screenplay events also return, while the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival offers a strong line-up in a unique setting.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor, Northings

Kenny Mathieson lives and works in Boat of Garten, Strathspey. He studied American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a BA (First Class) in 1978, and a PhD in 1983. He has been a freelance writer on various arts-related subjects since 1982, and contributes to the Inverness Courier, The Scotsman, The List, and other publications. He has contributed to numerous reference books, and has written books on jazz and Celtic music.