SAT - Allover - Chris Morphet
Tuesday 10 December 2024
 9.2°C   WSW Gentle Breeze
SCT - 2025/26 Small Grant SchemeSCT - 2025/26 Small Grant Scheme
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Arts / Islands could trial return of live events, suggests culture secretary

The Folk Festival is due to return in the coming months.

SCOTLAND’s culture secretary has suggested that the country’s islands could play host to “trials” which would see the return of live concerts and events.

Fiona Hyslop, however, stressed that any involvement of the islands would need the full approval of the communities themselves.

Events like concerts have been off the agenda since the pandemic struck, and it is unclear when they may return.

The Scottish Government said in a route map published on Thursday that live events may be “permitted with restricted numbers and physical distancing restrictions” in the third phase of relaxing the lockdown.

Reduced numbers, however, brings into question the economic viability of hosting certain events.

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart raised the subject during a virtual meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s culture, tourism, Europe and external affairs committee on Thursday.

She asked what Hyslop’s views were on the loss of live events in rural and island areas, and how musicians can be supported as venues reopen.

The Linlithgow MSP said that work has been done to bring together different events companies to work through what the future might hold.

Hyslop recently held a roundtable session with a number of organisers, including those behind the Heb Celt festival in Stornoway.

She suggested that trialling the return of events could happen in the future – with Scotland’s islands a potential host.

“We’re going to put together an advisory group on events in particular, to see what can happen,” Hyslop said.

“Some of it might just be also about testing as well – how do we work collaboratively to see which events might we try and put on that can showcase a different way of working?

“There might be differences in what we can do on islands. You’ll know yourself Beatrice in terms of what your constituents would want or not want.”

Become a member of Shetland News

 

She added: “How do we help [the sector]… to come up with solutions? Some of those solutions might be on islands, but only with the agreement of the communities on those islands themselves.”

Shetland’s cultural calendar for 2020 has all but been wiped out, with large events like the folk festival and accordion and fiddle festival being postponed.

Hyslop added that one challenge would be to build confidence in people to return to attending events following the lockdown phase.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.