Around 80 people gathered in Inverness recently to hear about the work of the Fèis movement’s umbrella organisation, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, at the organisation’s Annual Conference.

The organisation has seen a large increase in its workload over the past year, and an increase in its turnover, to almost £600k, making it one of the most successful arts organisations in the Highlands & Islands, and it’s not going to stop there!

Publishing the organisation’s Annual Report, Chairperson Catriona MacIntyre highlighted that in 2003-04:

• 4,491 young people had participated in Fèis activities
• 36 Fèisean had taken place throughout Scotland
• Over 400 tutors had been employed
• The organisation had made grants of £126k to individual Fèisean

She also pointed to the success of the organisation in working with the Highland Council in providing traditional music tuition in all Highland schools as part of the Scottish Executive’s Youth Music Initiative, and setting up a new music festival for the Highlands as part of the Highland2007 initiative.  Fèis Rois was also congratulated for organising the highly successful Harvest opening concert at this year’s Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, which had featured 75 young Fèis participants alongside some of the Celtic music world’s leading musicians.  Fèis participants will also be appearing on television soon, alongside students from the RSAMD in Glasgow and the Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton, in a series called ‘Beòlach’ made by MnE Television with funding from Seirbhis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig.

Arthur Cormack, Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s Director said: “This has been an extremely productive time for Fèisean nan Gàidheal, and in addition to an 84% increase in the funding offered to Fèisean over the past two years, with a new funding package from Highlands & Islands Enterprise and several successful bids to the Scottish Arts Council lottery, we have been able to offer all Fèisean ICT equipment, regular training which includes Gaelic language training, and we have invested in new musical instruments.  With additional help from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, we were able to maintain our Gaelic theatre-in-education service with Meanbh-Chuileag, and they have been working with Sradagan, Fèisean and schools, as well as with some public bodies.”

Catriona MacIntyre said: “I would like to pay particular tribute to all the volunteer organisers and helpers in the many communities throughout the country who work tirelessly to ensure the success of the Fèis movement.  That effort is not simply confined to running their local Fèis but more and more time has to be spent understanding and complying with new legislation and regulations.  As an organisation one of our key roles is to support the volunteers, and while we always try to reduce the burden as much as possible, volunteers still make the most significant impact on the Fèisean locally, and we cannot thank them enough for their continued involvement.”

The conference heard about Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s forward planning, the organisation’s new Development Fund, and the launch of a new training qualification for music tutors.  The new professional development award, the Certificate in Music Tuition, was produced by the Traditional Music Tutor Training Network, which is administered by Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s Training Officer, Iona MacDonald, in collaboration with the Scottish Qualifications Agency.  It will be available for delivery by approved SQA centres from this month, and is expected to provide training for over 100 musicians in its first year from a wide range of organisations such as Fèisean nan Gàidheal, the Traditional Song and Music Association of Scotland, the Adult Learning Programme in Edinburgh and the Glasgow Fiddle Workshop.  The course has taken four years to develop through a series of consultation exercises such as seminars and email questionnaires.