Fèis week postponed again

Organisers of Oban’s rescheduled week-long fèis have had to postpone it again due to continued Covid restrictions.

More than 200 participants and 30 tutors were expected to take part in the festival originally set to run from April 6 until April 10 in Oban Primary Campus.

But the Gaelic festival had to be pulled because of the pandemic and moved to October in what committee members hoped would be ‘better times’.

Fèis Latharna is organised by a committee of volunteers and has been running its week of traditional music tuition in Oban since 1994.

Fèis committee member Ewan Macdonald said: ‘We moved the fèis the week before lockdown kicked in, pushing it as far back to the October holidays as we could hoping for better times ahead but it wasn’t to be. There were lots of factors to consider in delaying it again until next Easter but it’s the right decision. Our priority is keeping everyone safe. We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience over this difficult period.’

The main fèis week traditionally includes song, drama, bagpipes, shinty, drumming, clarsach, guitar, group work, whistle, fiddle, accordion, sound production, art and crafts, Highland dance, chanter, dance, step dance, piano and percussion.

The national body Fèisean nan Gàidheal and funders, in line with national guidelines, were involved in the deciding discussions.

The annual three-week Argyll Ceilidh Trail also had to be cancelled this year with gigs postponed until 2021.

Weekly classes have been carrying on via Zoom before taking a break for the summer.

‘We’re now looking forward

Band of mixed musicians at Oban’s Easter Fèis 2019.

to the 2021 fèis week and to resuming our online classes,' added Ewan, who also appealed for new committee members to join them and help plan next year’s event and help run the weekly classes on Zoom.

There has been a good uptake of online classes, says Ewan, and the committee has been inviting parents to take part in a survey to help update and refresh classes on offer after the short summer break. For more information go to www. feislatharna.org