Next week sees the start of Fèis Thiriodh, Tiree’s festival of traditional music, dance and culture, and 2009 looks to be building on the success of last year’s record-breaking Fèis.
The week starts on Sunday afternoon with a walk round Hynish looking at the township’s fascinating history and looking behind the buildings to look at the human stories. Vikings, Iron Age forts and of course the incomparable Alan Stevenson. A bonus this year will be Hynish teas halfway through – a must for hungry historians!
Monday night sees a Homecoming Supper and Cèilidh in An Talla to celebrate Scotland’s Year of the Homecoming. A dram, a traditional Burns meal and an old fashioned cèilidh with some top singers and a great chance to meet the week’s tutors. Tickets are in the shops and at the office of Paper.works at the Rural Centre (220055). There are only 80 tickets, so don’t delay!
On Tuesday there is an evening of film from An Iodhlann, Tiree’s historical centre. There’s a short clip from the 1930s, some from the 1950s, and more recent material. This is in the Rural Centre and there will be a chance to sample teas at the Cobbled Cow in the interval (more hungry historians!)
Wednesday night sees the ever popular (for young and old!) children’s dance, Dannsa na Chloinne, Thursday the Tutors’ Cèilidh and Friday night the Final Dance, this year with band of the moment Trail West.
During the day the school will be thronging with musicians, shinty players and film makers. The tutors this year are Sileas Sinclair, accordion; John MacLeod, pipes; Melissa Deans, drama; Iain Sandilands, djembe (something new this year-an African drum); Brian Graham, pipe band drumming; Jenna Reid, fiddle; Calum MacCrimmon, whistle; Christine MacIntyre, film making (this was so popular last year that we have made this into a regular class); our own Ishbel Campbell, singing; Catriona MacGregor, our Gaelic teacher, and Darren Reid, shinty; and Iona Brown, Gaelic. A week to be proud of Tiree’s rich culture. See you there!
Ar cànan, ar cultur ‘s ar ceòl.
Dr John Holliday, chair.
Playing in the Ceilidh Tent, the band were delighted with the enthusiasm in which they were received. Accordion player Daniel Gillespie told An Tirisdeach “ It was really exciting to play at Scotland’s biggest festival. It was a fantastic crowd and the atmosphere was amazing.”