Party on the Shore at Bettyhill this Bank Holiday

The Seashore Festivals and Seashore Days are being hosted by local communities, proud to show off their seashores and supported with the assistance of the Highland Seashore Project, a three-year initiative to get local communities out on their shores and feel excited about how amazing our Highland Coasts are. All events by the Highland Seashore Project are free; it’s all about getting people out on to the coast. In 2013 the project worked with local community groups and the Highland Ranger Service and brought six large community Roadshows to venues around the Highlands and five seashore life identification workshops.

The Seashore Festival at Bettyhill Village Hall is being organised by the dedicated staff of the Strathnaver Museum and The Highland Council Ranger Service for Sutherland. The festival includes Making a model St.Kilda Mail Boat to sail out with a message to the sea, discovering the meaning behind place names, live music with local musicians, the fabulous story teller Bob Pegg (who can charm a tune from a periwinkle shell), local sea food, arts, crafts, exhibitions and so much more. The festival starts at 10am and goes on till 4pm, but once the party gets started who knows!

Part of the Highland Seashore Project is to encourage local people to get involved in all things seashore whether it is natural history, the heritage of the coast or the impact of the seashore in local communities today. To this end the project is funding eight regional arts festivals covering the seven coastal regions of Caithness, Sutherland, Easter Ross, Wester Ross, Skye & Lochalsh, Lochaber, and Inverness & Nairn. Festivals will vary reflecting the local communities unique histories and heritage, but can include ceilidhs with local musicians, songs, poems, stories and artwork that have been inspired by the sea and coast. To find out more about the other festivals and events please go to the project web site at www.highlandseashore.org.uk  and go to the festivals page or the project facebook page at Highland Seashore Biodiversity Project.

ENDS

28 Apr 2014