Frank Notes: The banquet is ready: come and tuck in

Every Solas Festival there comes a moment on the Friday when the site looks beautiful, we have a resplendent programme in our hands and we breathe expectantly “All is ready; oh, all ye punters, come and tuck in!”.

Well, we're not quite there yet, but we can see all the pieces falling into place:

  • Grant funding in place

  • Site plan all agreed, with all the good things of last year and a sauna for good measure

  • Posters all over our cities

  • Firm programme bookings, too many to list here, but including:

    • Fabulous music from the likes of Hamish Hawk (pictured), Katie Gregson MacLeod, the Kinnaris Quintet and the inimitable Brass Aye

    • More well-being than ever, not just our renowned yoga, but Rhythms for Recovery, writing for mental health, reflections on doing without social media and our very own Gratitude Tree

    • A very strong literature strand, with the likes of Len Pennie, Harry Baker, Ken Cockburn and the protest poetry of Loud Poets

    • Other art forms, with two theatre productions at the forefront

    • Spirituality, exploring thankfulness in different faith traditions and a creative form of worship

    • Social justice, with our friends from Vox, many of whom have experience of criminal justice and a panel on putting integrity on the ballot paper

Oh, all ye punters, come and tuck in!

Frank Strang, Chair.

Deborah Hahn