2007 Blas Festival shaping up to be the best yet
Today the line up for this year’s Blas Festival is announced and, featuring a rich blend of local, national and international talent, both young and not-so-young, it is confidently predicted that this year will be Blas’ best yet. In addition to news of a hugely attractive array to talent to grace stages during the festival, there is the confirmation that more of the Highland area will benefit from Blas. This year Inverness and the city’s near vicinity will participate in Blas and as a result of this and of greater festival activity in areas already associated with Blas, the number of individual events in the programme has risen by a quarter to over fifty.
Among the attractions at this year’s festival are Mary Jane Lamond, a hugely popular Gaelic singer from Cape Breton, and Kin, a new commission from celebrated fiddler Duncan Chisholm which celebrates Highland landscape, language, tradition, community and family. Also in a continuation of the Clan theme pioneered at last year’s Blas, the Henderson family from Lochaber meet the tradition-bearing MacNeils from Cape Breton, and will delight audiences with a lively cèilidh of music, song and dance. Add to these highlights such events as those in which singer Karen Matheson performs with the Scottish Ensemble and performances from, among others Dàimh, Dòchas, Catriona Watt who is 2007’s Young Traditional Musician of the year, Anam and the award-winning band, Flook and you have all the ingredients necessary for a fantastic festival. But there is more because, spicing up the whole programme is a host of young Highland talent who, though perhaps shorter on experience than the more established names, are themselves hugely talented and enthusiastic. Their participation will help focus on the rich seam of young Highland musical talent who are beginning to make a big impact on audiences throughout the land. It bodes very well for the future of traditional music in the area.
According to the Festival’s musical director, Brian Ó hEadhra, the fact that Blas will be bigger and better in this, the year in which Scotland celebrates Highland Culture is no coincidence. “From the outset it was envisaged that then festival would grow and reach a pinnacle of excellence in 2007, the year in which the image of Highland culture is in clear focus. It’s a testament to all involved, from artistes to volunteers and to sponsors, that Blas has more than achieved this challenging objective which was targeted from the outset. 2007 will be a great year for the Highlands and Blas will play a full part in making it a success.”
A full list of events and venues can be accessed on the newly re-vamped Blas Festival website which goes live today.