Festival is music to county residents' ears
Bryan Copland • Published 5 Sep 2012 09:30
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Haddington Pipe Band provided a musical spectacle when its members marched through the town on Saturday.
Music lovers flocked to Haddington for a weekend of excellent music and delicious food at this year's Trad on the Tyne Festival.
After a successful first year which saw the event short-listed for Best Small Festival at the Scottish Event Awards, this year's festival attracted around 1,800 people.
As well performances of traditional music the event, which is organised by Haddington Pipe Band in partnership with the Waterloo Bistro, offered 'come and try' sessions and workshops in instruments such as the fiddle, small pipes, the harp and even a chance to try bell ringing at St Mary's Church.
Musical highlights included 'Steele the Show', a tribute concert to East Lothian singer Davy Steele, an accordion session led by Bobby Colgan, and performances by the North Berwick Ukelele Band while harpist Wendy Stewart and pipes player Gary West blended music with a three course meal served up at the Waterloo Bistro.
Alastair Bruce, pipe band member and one of the festival organisers, said: "This year's festival went extremely well, and unlike last year, we had some help from the weather.
"On our opening night the 'Music to Dine For' concert sold out and the final act, Daihm, a Celtic band who came all the way from Skye, were excellent.
"We wanted to attract a wide age range to all the events. We had junior come and try sessions and storytelling for young children and we had children aged four or five up to people in their 80's or over at the concerts."
Mr Bruce also thanked the sponsors who had made this year's event possible.
While organisers are now recovering from another successful year, they also faced an anxious wait to hear the results of the Scottish Events Award, as one of three short listed festivals. The winner was due to be announced yesterday (Thursday).
Mr Bruce said: "We don't expect to win but it is nice to be short-listed after our first year."
He added: "We had about a 25 per cent increase in visitors this year. The weather helped and you have to get the programme right. I think we did that this year, people seemed to enjoy it."
This article appeared in East Lothian Courier 05 Sep 12
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