TOMMY BEAVITT reports on the stresses, strains and ultimate satisfactions in helping mount the Wester Ross Festival – even if it did turn much of the month into one big blur of activity

DONALD McKENZIE gives a preview of his up-and-coming exhibition at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness

Librettist ROBERT DAVIDSON describes the genesis of Dunbeath Water, an ambitious oratorio inspired by the Caithness writer Neil Gunn

Venue profile: Fusion, Kirkwall, Orkney

GORDON MACLEAN, the director of An Tobar, the Tobermory Arts Centre on Mull, sounds off on the current threat to the Highland Festival’s funding from Highland Council, and demands more support for the arts at all levels.

The Mod is the biggest event in the Gaelic music calendar. This year marks the centenary of the event in its birthplace, Oban. Gold medal winner ARTHUR CORMACK gives a flavour of what it was like to compete in Gaeldom’s premiere competition.

KENNY MATHIESON hears about the work of DUNCAN MACINNES, who is the administrator of PAN, the Highland-wide promoters network, and is involved in running SEALL Arts and the Skye Festival in south Skye

Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul (Angus Peter Campbell) describes his epic new Gaelic novel, An Oidhche Mus Do Sheòl Sìnn (‘The Night Before We Sailed’).

GEORGE MACKAY looks at the rise and rise of Blazin’ Fiddles’s music festival in Beauly.

MARTIN STEPHENSON speaks to MARCUS WILSON about the Highlands, escaping the music business, and why he is busier than ever.