SCOT:LANDS – A FREE FESTIVAL EXTRAVAGANZA IN ONE DAY
On January 1st 2014 the very best of Scottish arts, culture and tradition will be brought to Edinburgh in a free, all singing, all dancing family fun day out. To kick start Scotland’s Big Year, Edinburgh’s Hogmanany, which is produced by Unique Events on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, presents SCOT:LANDS – a journey around nine venues in Edinburgh’s Old Town, each curated by notable artists and arts organisations from all over the country; the cultural landscape of Scotland re-invented for just one day.
Scot:Lands offers a mystery tour through some of Edinburgh’s landmark buildings. Audiences will take a journey through nine ‘Lands’, each curated by some of Scotland’s most imaginative and exciting artists and musicians, each presenting the very best in music, art, theatre and dance from as far afield as Shetland and Ullapool. Kicking off at midday at Home:Land in the National Museum of Scotland, visitors spin a compass to determine their destination, collect a postcard with information about the first landfall on their journey, at one of the nine lands within easy walking distance around the City’s Old Town – it’s all in the luck of the draw. Where will the compass take you first? From ceilidh dancing to experimental physical theatre, film installations and free sampling of local and artisan food, Scot:Lands will be a sensory feast. Each Land will present a distinctive show of music, theatre, performance or dance brought to life by some of Scotland’s most acclaimed artists and arts organisations featuring packed, interactive sessions for all the family to enjoy.
Supported by The Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, Scot:Lands will be an adventure for all the family.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs said:- “Scot:Lands gives people an opportunity to start 2014 by exploring a feast of Scottish culture in Edinburgh, the best place in the world to celebrate New Year. Hogmanay gives us a chance to look back on the year gone by and to look forward to new beginnings, and this is especially relevant as we stand on the threshold of such a momentous year for Scotland.
“This year’s Winter Festivals will show just how much Scotland has to offer, and are made possible with the continued support the Scottish Government provides through the Scottish Winter Festival Fund and Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, which totals £2.55 million, including £200,000 to ‘Scot-Lands’.”
Performers from across Scotland who will curate one of the nine Lands in Edinburgh include Lau – the award winning and internationally touring contemporary folk outfit, as well as Kenny Anderson AKA King Creosote. Dundee’s Smallpetiteklein present their most ambitious and adventurous dance performance to date and Cora Bissett will showcase a re-imagined version of her award-winning theatre productionWhatever Gets You Through The Night.
Shet:Land, for example, will feature in an atmospheric old church, lit by candlelight and low winter light through the stained glass windows, performances from some of Scotland’s internationally known fiddle players and musicians interwoven with stories and poetry against multiscreen projection of the landscape of the islands – with free samples of Shetland smoked salmon, bannock and ale.
Peter Irvine, Director of Unique Events, said:-“We’re tremendously proud of Scot:Lands and grateful to the Expo Fund for making it happen. It offers the opportunity to artists and musicians from all over Scotland – the largest line-up outside of Celtic Connections – to celebrate the places that have inspired and nurtured their work and bring it to our international audience, so spin your compass and come with us on a unique, once-only magical journey. You’ll never see their performances and collaborations again. It’s all – including the artisan food – free!”
At the end of the afternoon, and their journey, audiences will be invited to return to Home:Land with their Landing Card to enter into the prize draw. One lucky traveller will win a Journey of a Lifetime. This personalised trip around the real Scotland includes Michelin starred Restaurants, luxury hotels, world class spas, trips to islands, VIP access to festivals – and their own driver – bespoke and personalised to the value of £2014.00.
Finally, it’s all down to the Grassmarket for One for the Road. Marking the end of the three day Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Festival there will be free live music, craic and a dram or two in the evening in some of the area’s best pubs. Venues include Biddy Mulligans, Black Bull, Beehive Inn and The Fiddlers Arms.
Councillor Steve Cardownie, Festivals and Events Champion, City of Edinburgh Council, said:- “Edinburgh’s glorious ‘midnight moment’ is revered the world over but there’s so much more to our Hogmanay celebrations than that. Scot:lands promises to be fantastic day out for all the family and I can think of no better place to kick off Scotland’s big year than right here in the Capital.”
Home:Land: National Museum Of Scotland.
Lau:land: Presented by Scotland’s award winning, internationally touring folk band – Lau, featuring live music performances.
Lobster:Land: Hosted by Kenny Anderson with well-known guests and collaborators – Fence collective – to bring a flavour of Fife to the City.
High:Land: Programmed by the legendary Ceilidh Place in Ullapool with music, songs and stories as well as local food and artisan beer.
Heid:Land: Pathhead Music Collective recreate the music and everyday life of Pathhead itself featuring a family ceilidh, a concert and a choir and a drumming group – a packed, interactive session for all the family.
Shet:Land: bringing Mareel, home of Shetland Arts, to Edinburgh, and the atmosphere and creativity of these faraway islands with music, film, food and a stellar line-up of Shetland fiddle players.
Shaw:Land: Showcasing Cora Bissett’s collaboration of writers, musicians, and artists in a re-imagined production of her award-winning Whatever Gets You Through The Night.
New:Found:Land: featuring Edinburgh-based art collective FOUND to bring to life a candle-lit musical dream-like performance ‘treating sound and silence as equals’.
Wander:Land: Dundee’s innovative contemporary dance company, Smallpetiteklien, present their most ambitious and adventurous dance performance to date to live tunes of Philip Glass and Widor.
Nether:Land: presented by the Storytelling Festival, visitors will receive a very ‘Edinburgh welcome’ as they travel to the land of custom, ritual and reflection.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
