Maclean tops bill as free festivities are unveiled for St Andrew’s Day
Thursday 24 OcTOber 2013 ONE of Scotland’s leading singer-songwriters is to head up a major new St Andrew’s Day celebration in Edinburgh.
Dougie MacLean, best known for his anthem Caledonia, will be leading an eight-hour celebration of the nation’s ceilidh culture, which will be staged in the Grassmarket area.
The free event, one of several new additions to Edinburgh’s festive programme this year, is expected to be the centrepiece of St Andrew’s celebrations.
Other events over the St Andrew’s weekend – part of a £350,000 festive programme being bankrolled by the Scottish Government – are planned in Oban, Glasgow, East Lothian, Perth and St Andrews.
Also appearing at the Grassmarket event will be Louis Abbott, frontman of Scottish indie favourites Admiral Fallow, who appeared at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations last year, and two of Scotland’s leading folk outfits – Blazin’ Fiddles and Braebach.
They will all be joining forces with MacLean – who is about to stage his own Perthshire Amber festival, which starts on Friday – for a celebration concert devoted to songs by Robert Burns.
Their show will be a revival of a sell-out concert staged at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow as part of the Celtic Connections festival earlier this year. It will round off a day of live music, dance and storytelling workshops, market stalls and an open air ceilidh.
The £65,000 Grassmarket celebration, believed to be the biggest outdoor event to be held to date in Scotland to mark St Andrew’s Day, will come less than a week after Sir Chris Hoy switches on the capital’s Christmas lights.
It is being jointly organised by Edinburgh firm Unique Events, which has produced the city’s Hogmanay celebrations for the last two decades, and Underbelly.
Pete Irvine, managing director of Unique, said of the Grassmarket event: “This extraordinary celebration of Scottish celidih culture brings together some of our greatest traditional musicians to entertain the crowds on Scotland’s National Day.
“It’s the first time that we have celebrated St Andrew’s Day in this way in Edinburgh and is a great start to the city’s Christmas and Hogmanay programme of events.”
Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Scotland’s winter festivals bring people together to celebrate the very best of our culture, creativity and hospitality.
“Not only
Fringe
promoters do they make a significant contribution to our economy, but they bring warmth, excitement and sparkle to our cold, dark winter nights, and demonstrate our ability to celebrate our culture year-round.
“The packed programme of free events around St Andrew’s Day in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket is the perfect way to kick off the celebrations.
“From traditional music and dance to storytelling, it will be a taster of some of the exciting things to come over the next few months.”
Events being held elsewhere in the country include a threeday programme of free entertainment in Glasgow’s George Square, featuring a ceilidh, an open-air film screening and live music.
A new St Andrew’s Day celebration will be held in Oban as part of its ten-day winter festival and there will be five days of festivities in East Lothian, under the banner of The Saltire.