Feis an Rubha hits all the right notes
It was another successful Fèis an Rubha this year, with 56 children attending the event at Sgoil An Rubha on Lewis.
The youngsters enjoyed learning guitar, fiddle, clarsach, melodeon and drums as well as taking part in singing and drama workshops, all led by experienced tutors, from Monday July 30 to Friday August 3.
Anne Macaulay, chairwoman of the Fèis an Rubha committee, said: ‘We had 56 at the fèis. They enjoyed it and the concert on Friday night went well.
‘The numbers were slightly down but the croileagan artificially inflated it last year. Numbers attending the main event are going up.
‘Most of the participants were from Point but there were three this year who were home from Glasgow Gaelic School.’
The main fèis is for children aged eight to 18, while there is also a class for those aged five to seven and a cròileagan for children aged three to five.
Attendance normally costs £35 for the first child and £30 for siblings but the organising committee wanted to lower this cost barrier to some taking part.
They sought funding from community wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust to provide free places for families in receipt of the school clothing grant and the community wind farm donated £500.
Calum Alex Macmillan, Fèisean nan Gàidheal development manager, said the funding of free places by the trust had allowed Fèis an Rubha to reach more young people.
Such financial support would ‘make a real difference for families within the local community’.
He added: ‘Fèisean nan Gàidheal and member fèisean endeavour to provide opportunities for all young people to access traditional music tuition and experiences in the Gaelic arts.’
Donald John MacSween, Point and Sandwick Trust general manager, helped establish Feis an Rubha about 15 years ago in the now demolished Aird School. He said he was ‘so pleased’ to see the feis has grown.
‘It is fantastic to see it now firmly established as a regular and popular event with participants eager to learn new musical skills from dedicated tutors.’