Keith TMSA Festival

Traditional music festival with ceilidhs, concerts, competitions and informal sessions.

This annual three-day festival of music, song, dance and verse which is normally held in various venues throughout ‘The Friendly Town’ will be going on-line.through Facebook and YouTube – free of charge with an opportunity for participants to donate towards the entertainers or the festival itself..

The Festival will kick off on Friday evening with a Virtual Dance which will see 14 band leaders from all over the country provide the music for a programme of easy old-time dances.  This will be followed by a live sing-a-round featuring top traditional singers such as Joe Aitken, Jim & Kate Taylor and Margaret Bennett.

On Saturday morning festival goers will be able to see the event’s first ever virtual competition entries when they are published at 9.30am before the results are announced at the Prizewinners Concert at 6pm later that evening.  This will be followed by the Saturday Concert at 7.30pm.

Sunday will see the Bairns Ceilidh in the morning, the Chorus Quaich competition results in the afternoon and the Farewell Concert at night.

Throughout the weekend there will also be live sessions, panel discussions and a series of stories for bairns and bairns at hert.

Amongst the guests performing over the weekend are Bothy Ballad legend – Joe Aitken, former BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year finalists Iona Fyfe, Calum McIlroy and Ellie Beaton, champion fiddler Maggie Adamson from Shetland, local music group The Country Quines, Keith ex-pat Mo Rutherford, champion accordionist Leonard Brown and singing duos Jim & Susie Malcolm and Barbara Dymock & Chris Marra plus entertainer Craig Pike who is a member of Doric comedy group The Flying Pigs.

More information can be found at www.keithfestival.com