Tune up for chance to perform with Runrig legend
Fiddle players will get the chance to share a stage with former Runrig front man Donnie Munro by taking part in a competition which is being held as part of a festival to celebrate the 250th birthday party of Grantown.
The winner of the Fiddler of Strathspey championship will be invited to perform at a banquet dinner which is being headlined by Donnie Munro and his bandmates Maggie Adamson and Eric Cloughley.
The contest takes place on June 20, the official launch day of the Grantown 250: The Strathspey Seven Festivals an eight day event to mark the laying of the first stone of the first building in the town.
Lynda Beveridge, organiser of the Fiddler of Strathspey contest, said: "This really is an opportunity not to be missed. It would be quite something to end up sharing the same stage as Runrig star Donnie Munro so we are encouraging all fiddlers to get themselves registered and to take part in this competition. It is such a unique prize."
She added: "We are sure that this competition will attract fiddlers not just from Strathspey and the Highlands but from further afield as well."
The competition is open to fiddlers of all ages and entrants will be required to play one set piece from the Angus Cumming Strathspey Collection and one Strathspey of their own choice.
Grantown 250 is being pipped as the Highlands’ biggest birthday party and tickets are now on sale for the variety of events during the eight-day event which will include interactive displays, a historical pub crawl, music evenings, buffets, barbecues, tastings and a traditional market.
It has been in the planning for well over a year and is being co-ordinated by the Grantown Society.
Mr Bill Sadler, from the society, explained: "We are delighted that it is now all coming together.
The Fiddler of Strathspey contest is quite fitting given that Strathspey is clearly a musical genre and that the contest is being held in the heart of Strathspey. There is a nice poetry about it. Angus Cumming was one of Grantown’s first residents and his music collection can be found on the Grantown 250 website."
He added: "Grantown 250 aims to promote the rich history of the town. There are few towns where you can trace back the history so clearly. This festival is a celebration for local people and visitors from home and abroad. It will showcase the history and attractions of our unique community but it also illustrates the dawn of the modern Highlands, so it’s as much a celebration for the whole region as it is for Grantown itself."
Details of how to enter the Fiddler of Strathspey contest can be found at www.grantown250.org/music.
