Fantastic Fèisean all summer
Children from Golspie to Ghana have been enjoying a summer of free Gaelic music tuition thanks to Gaelic arts organisation Fèisean nan Gàidheal.
With support from Creative Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Fèisean an t-Samhraidh (Summer Fèisean – Fèisean being the Gaelic word for festivals), organised by Fèisean nan Gàidheal in collaboration with local Fèisean, offer live online music lessons with musicians from across Scotland, every week throughout the summer holidays.
Fèisean usually take the form of a week-long series of music, dance and Gaelic language activities in their own locality, with around 20 of them normally taking place during the school holidays.
Lessons
Covid-19 put a stop to these, so the small team at Fèisean nan Gàidheal set up a programme of music lessons online, teaming up with local Fèisean to deliver lessons from top traditional musicians and singers in the country via Zoom, at the time they would normally have been taking place.
Children have been able to choose from a selection of workshops including fiddle, Gaelic Song, accordion, whistle and bagpipes.
Tutors, who include Skipinnish singer Norrie MacIver, Eilidh Cormack, Gaelic singer with female trio Sian, Mànran fiddler Ewen Henderson and BBC Radio 2
Folk Award winner Mischa Macpherson, have also been putting together videos to form the traditional tutors' cèilidh at the end of each week, all of which are streamed on Facebook, along with a selection of Gaelic songs for everyone to learn together.
Online
Two other Fèisean – Fèis Phàislig (Paisley) and Fèis Arainn (Arran) – have organised their own online Fèis and these are open to anyone across Scotland or beyond.
Catriona Danquah, who lives in Ghana, said: ‘Our two children, aged 11 and 13, tuned into the summer Fèisean online from Ghana for Gaelic singing and chanter lessons. They loved every minute of it. The teachers were organised and engaging, and the sessions couldn't be long enough.'
Future events are planned for Arran, Lochaber and North Lanarkshire.
To sign up for one of the remaining Fèisean, visit www.feisean.org