@ Various venues, Edinburgh, from Wed 29 Apr to Sun 10 May
TradFest Edinburgh – Dùn Èideann is in its third year and this festival looks to be the best programme yet, with a huge variety to offer across the traditional arts. It is a festival seeking to throw off the shackles of Scottish cultural stereotypes often aimed at tourists, establishing a sense of meaningful cultural tourism by hosting traditional arts loved by locals and visitors alike. You’ll find music, storytelling, dance, ritual drama and crafts as well as walks, films, workshops and family events. The festival sits across the turn of summer, celebrating the new season with the Beltane Fire Festival (a theatrical re-imagining of Celtic ritual, transforming Calton Hill for the night), Mummers (plays for May Day) and a May Day Parade with garland and costume making on the Meadows.
The music programme features some of the folk scene’s top bands, including stalwart Scots song group Malinky, celebrating a new album; new Scottish songwriting from Salt House (as well as some stunning vocals from BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards winner Siobhan Miller); and exciting instrumental, song and dance from Breabach. There’s also a strong contingent of women, not least a belter of a show ‘A Fine Wee Lass?’ featuring heavyweights Mairi Campbell, Kim Edgar and Emily Smith, coming together for a special one-off performance celebrating the female voice in Scots song. Also not to be missed are BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2014 Robyn Stapleton, BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014 Singer of the Year Bella Hardy and all-girl super group The Shee.
The festival isn’t just about Scottish music. The Pleasance plays host to fantastic Irish flute player Nuala Kennedy on 3 May and Swedish folk trio Väsen kick off 4 May at Edinburgh Folk Club. Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys take the Pleasance by storm with American roots and bluegrass from Michigan, and the energetic Italian Badwills launch their album at the Netherbow.
TradFest also encapsulates items from Summerhall’s new Nothing Ever Happens Here… programme, representing very contemporary folk including late night partying from Khartoum Heroes featuring King Creosote and Vic Galloway. Another highlight from the more contemporary vein is one of the scene’s most mesmerising young voices, Adam Holmes. For impromptu sessions from any number of the festival’s guests, participants, performers and friends, DJ Dolphin Boy will be hosting the nightly TradFest club at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar.
Moving away from music, Tales in the Making brings together craft and tale collaboration with imaginative retellings of traditional stories. New group Huradal will present a Scottish stepdance show showing the links between Gaelic rhythmic singing and percussive dance (they also have a workshop before the gig but the date is misprinted in the brochure). Dance Base hosts ceilidh classes for a variety of levels and there is a chance to put these skills to the test at a number of ceilidh dances throughout the festival. There are also several folk culture-inspired events taking place; including the first ever world cinema programme on the theme, several walking tours, and topical election events like Pre-election Flyting and Debate (flyting being a traditional exchange of insults, usually in verse).
TradFest is a festival which gets bigger and better every year, and which has a very different flavour from its Glaswegian cousin Celtic Connections. With a tagline of ‘Traditional Culture. Live’, it’s another jewel in the Edinburgh festivals crown, crossing artform barriers and bringing an eclectic array of events under one banner.