Media Release: Fife Festival features top musicians this weekend

SOME of Scotland’s foremost traditional musicians will feature in the third year of a Fife Festival this coming weekend.

Set in the heart of the beautiful kingdom of Fife, guests of the Falkland Traditional Music Festival include famous fiddler, Aonghas Grant, folklorist and Gaelic singer, Margaret Bennett, top ceilidh band leader, Fergie MacDonald, and Jim Broon of the legendary Foundry Bar Band.

Festival spokesperson, Erika Douglas, said “We are gearing up for what promises to be a memorable weekend of music and song.

“Our competitions take place on Saturday afternoon and are designed to encourage all players and singers, in particularly younger performers, to take part.

“Prize-winners are invited to play in the evening concert on Saturday, alongside our festival guests so you can see both up and coming talent alongside established performers.”

The Falkland Traditional Music Festival runs from Friday 26 June to Sunday 28 June with concerts, competitions, workshops, and sessions kicking off with a ceilidh dance on Friday night with The Fergie MacDonald Band.

Margaret Bennett will be presenting a talk about her son, Martyn Bennett, the influential musician and composer who died in 2005, with live festival and session recordings.

Aonghas Grant will lead a fiddle masterclass on Sunday morning as well as adjudicating instrumental competitions with Jim Broon.

Singers also feature strongly in the line-up with appearances by Joe Aitken, Jim Taylor, Sandy Thomson, Maggie Macrae and Scott Gardiner – the last three also sharing adjudication duties for the singing competitions.

Local storyteller, Sheila Kinninmonth, will hold free family storytelling sessions on Brunton Green on Saturday with captivating tales being told.

Full details, venues, competition rules and ticket prices can be found at: www.falklandtradfest.org.uk

or www.facebook.com/falklandtradfest or contact 01337 840450 Tickets for paid events range between £5-£10 with children under-16 and competition spectators having free entry.

Notes to Editors:

• For photos or press enquiries email falklandtradfest@outlook.com; tel: 01337 840 450
• Tickets are available in advance through email falklandtradfest@outlook.com ; tel: 01337 840 450 or in person at the Bruce Inn/ Pillars of Hercules or during the festival at the Festival Office at the Lower Town Hall Friday evening and all day Saturday
• Camping is available at the Falkland Estate – 01337 840 450 or Pillars of Hercules – 01337 857749

Festival schedule:

Friday 26 June

Ceilidh Dance – Fergie MacDonald and his Ceilidh Band

Village Hall, 8.00 pm – 11.30 pm

Tickets: £10/ £8, children under-16 – Free entry; Raffle • BYOB

Saturday 27 June

Button Key Accordion Workshop – Fergie MacDonald. Village Hall, 10.30am – 12 noon

Limited to 20 participants, observers welcome Entry £5

Musical Memories of Martyn Bennett Talk – Margaret Bennett. Old Town Hall, 10.30 am – 12 noon

Entry £5

Family Storytelling – Sheila Kinninmonth. Brunton Green, 11:00 -12 and 2:00 – 3:00

FREE

Instrumental and Song Competitions. Village Hall & Old Town Hall: 1:00pm -5.00pm

Pub sessions at various venues around Falkland.

Traditional Concert. Village Hall, 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Featuring Aonghas Grant (fiddle), Jim Broon (accordion), Maggie MacRae (song), Scott Gardiner (song) Sandy Thomson (bothy ballads) and competition prizewinners

Tickets: £10/ £8, children under-16: Free entry. Raffle and BYOB.

Sunday 28 June

Fiddle Masterclass – Aonghas Grant. Old Town Hall, 11.00 am – 12.30 pm

Limited to 20 participants, observers welcome

Tickets: £5

Farewell concert. Village Hall, 2.00 pm – 4.30 pm

Featuring Aonghas Grant (fiddle), Jim Broon (accordion), Alf Hunter (guitar), Ken Orrock (song) plus Jim Taylor, Joe Aitken, Scott Gardiner – three of Scotland’s top bothy ballad singers on stage together!

Tickets: £8, children under 16 – Free entry

Competitions information

The winner of each category will be invited to perform their winning song or tune in the Saturday evening concert (6.00-9.00pm) – a great opportunity to play to an appreciative audience.

The Men and Women’s Traditional Singing competitions run simultaneously and are followed by the Bothy Ballad competition, in the Old Town Hall. The adjudicators for Traditional Song are Maggie MacRae and Scott Gardiner, and the Bothy Ballad competition will be judged by Sandy Thomson and Jimmy Hutchison.

The winner of the Bothy Ballad competition automatically goes forwards to be entered in the Elgin ‘Champion of Champions’ Competition which takes place in February 2016.

The Instrumental competitions are held in Falkland Village Hall with adjudicators are Aonghas Grant and Jim Broon. The categories are:

• fiddle – Under 12, Under 16, Open.
• Accordion – Under 12, Under 16, Open
• Instrumental Pairs – Under 16, Open.
• Ceilidh Band/Group – Under 16, Open

The approximate start time for each instrument is as follows: Fiddle 1pm, Accordion 2pm, Instrumental Pairs/Ceilidh Band 3pm.

Entry to competitions can only be made on the day so please arrive in time to register. Entries should be made on Saturday morning at the Festival Office in the Old Town Hall up to 30 minutes before the indicated starting time.

Entry fees are £3 per solo class and £3 per person in Duet, Instrumental Pairs and Ceilidh Bands. The Falkland Traditional Music Festival is affiliated to the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA) and the competitions are run under TMSA rules.

The competitions are designed to give encouragement to the revival of interest in the traditional music and songs of Scotland and the rules for competition allow a wide choice to the competitor.

For more details of the guidelines about song or tune selection please visit the Festival website: www.falklandtradfest.org.uk or www.facebook.com/falklandtradfest

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Contact: Fiona Campbell
Phone: 07922533915
Email: office@tmsa.org.uk
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