A strand of programming featuring top performers and a major new commission celebrating the culture of Scotland’s islands will be at the heart of this year’s Blas Festival, which has established itself as the premier event celebrating all that is good about the Gaelic language and culture of the Highlands.

Blas organisers launched the 2011 programme at one of its event venues, Eden Court in Inverness. Blas will deliver nearly 100 cultural events all over the Highlands between 9 and 17 September in venues ranging from community halls to Inverness Airport, The Jacobite Queen cruise boat and Eden Court Theatre. Traditional music as well as Gaelic language and song are the bedrock of the festival but, for the first time, Blas will also have a strand featuring Gaelic writers, organised in collaboration with Comhairle nan Leabhraichean – the Gaelic Books Council.

The festival is a key part of the Year of Scotland’s Islands initiative and will feature a new commission – Heisgeir – from Gaelic singing sensation Julie Fowlis, as well as a series of Islands Cèilidhs featuring some of our best-loved Gaelic singers performing in village halls across the Highlands. Another of the Scotland’s Islands events will celebrate 100 years since the birth of the Raasay-born poet Sorley Maclean. In a collaboration with Urras Shomhairle – The Sorley MacLean Trust – Hallaig, a piece of music composed by renowned Inverness composer, Stuart MacRae, inspired by one of MacLean’s most powerful poems, will be performed in Inverness Cathedral and at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye.

The Blas programme was welcomed by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Gaelic, Michael Russell MSP, who said: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome the launch of the Blas Festival programme for 2011. Blas has developed an excellent reputation over recent years for innovative events and high quality performances, and this year’s programme underlines this. This is a full and ambitious programme with top Scottish performers which will help strengthen the Gaelic language and enrich the cultural life of Scotland.”

Featured artists at Blas 2011 will include top musical talent such as Karen Matheson, Karine Polwart, Iain Morrison & Daibhidh Martin, Kathleen MacInnes, Maggie MacInnes & Colum Sands and chart-bidders Mànran. The Campbells of Greepe – Kenna & Seumas Campbell, Mary Ann & Wilma Kennedy and Maggie Macdonald – will have a home appearance in Dunvegan, when a new book charting the history of this unique family will be launched by Stornoway-based publishers, Acair.

The Blas Festival is a partnership between Fèisean nan Gàidheal, the Promoters Arts Network and its main funder, The Highland Council. The Leader of The Highland Council, Dr Michael Foxley said: “The Council’s support for Gaelic and traditional music remains strong. Blas has grown to be the showpiece for our culture and I am greatly looking forward to the exciting programme of events planned for the autumn.”

Two other special events as part of Blas 2011 will celebrate the Fèis Movement. There will be a concert at Strathpeffer Pavilion celebrating 25 years of Fèis Rois and another, to be held on the top of Cairngorm Mountain, marking the 21st anniversary of Fèis Spè.

Speaking at the launch, where he outlined the 2011 programme, Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s Chief Executive, Arthur Cormack said: “Blas has always made a virtue of involving young people in the festival and we are delighted to be celebrating the landmark ‘big birthdays’ reached by two Highland Fèisean. We will also see a number of Fèis Cèilidh Trail groups perform at the festival as well as pupils from the Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton.”

He said: “We will continue to ensure that Gaelic is used at every single Blas event and in all its publicity materials, making the festival a major promoter of the language. We are delighted that Blas is part of the 2011 Year of Scotland’s Islands initiative and we are extremely grateful to all the organisations that continue to invest in Blas.”

Murdo Mackay of the Scotland’s Islands initiative welcomed the launch of the Blas programme: “We are excited to include Blas 2011 in our Year of Scotland’s Islands programme of events, and very much looking forward to the new strand focusing on island culture. The Year of Scotland’s Islands aims to highlight the unique culture of Scotland’s island communities, and the islands’ appeal as visitor destinations, in order to create a long lasting legacy and awareness of all that they offer for visitors and the communities themselves.”

Leasaiche Cànain (Head of Language Usage) at Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Daibhidh Boag, congratulated the Blas Festival for presenting such a wide programme of events celebrating the region’s Gaelic-based music and culture: “The Blas Festival has grown to become one of the most important events in the Gaelic cultural calendar, in Scotland and indeed internationally. Bòrd na Gàidhlig is delighted to be supporting the event, through our focus in ensuring that Gaelic will be seen and heard as a matter of course, both in the promotion of the festival and at all events. Our support also ensures that young people across the Highlands can take part in the festival, with artists performing in their schools, raising awareness of Gaelic language and culture to new generations.”

Festival Director Donna Macrae said: “There are a number of very exciting and unique events as part of Blas 2011. One is Balach na Bonaid – a new piece being premiered at Blas written by James Ross with narration in Gaelic from Aonghas MacNeacail, from text by well-known Scots writer, James Robertson. We will also be celebrating the 80th birthday of one of the musical legends of the Highlands – Aonghas Grant, the left-hander Lochaber Fiddler – who will appear in Glengarry Hall alongside our Blas house band, The Outside Track, which has members from Scotland, Ireland and Cape Breton. Another highlight will be Lochaber Gold – a celebration of former pupils of Lochaber High School who have gone on to make a living in music, politics, writing and broadcasting.”

Donna continued: “We are also thrilled that the Camanachd Cup Final coincides with Blas 2011 and we will be providing music during the event to be held in the Bught Park in Inverness on 17 September, prior to our grand finale that evening in Eden Court. We are particularly pleased that our Schools Programme, organised by Lynn Johnson of the Highland Council’s Education Department, offers a fantastic opportunity for pupils across the Highlands to experience Blas events in their schools which tie in directly with the delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence.”

The full programme and information about several ways in which to buy tickets – available at a reduced rate until the end of July – is available from the festival website www.blas-festival.com

Source: Blas Festival