A celebration of Gaelic at this year’s XpoNorth

Delegates to Scotland’s leading creative industries festival will see and hear about some of the leaders in the Gaelic language at the festival.

XpoNorth 2018 takes place next week throughout Inverness on 27 and 28 June.

The Gaelic Angle on Wednesday will hear from multi-award winning singer and musician Julie Fowlis; Iseabail Mactaggart, director of strategy and partnerships at MG ALBA and Agnes Rennie, manager at Acair Publishing in Stornoway and who is also chair of the community-owned Galson Estate Trust in the North West Of Lewis.

The session will centre around the challenges facing the Gaelic sector and the subject of what makes the Gaelic language and culture so alluring to many around the world. It gets underway at 10am in Eden Court with free Entry.

BBC ALBA: The Showcase, 10 Years On (Thursday 28 June) will see Margaret Mary Murray, BBC ALBA head of service and Iseabail Mactaggart take a look back at the highlights of 10 years of the Gaelic channel which first began broadcasting in September 2008. BBC ALBA: The Showcase will take place at Eden Court at 11.15am with free entry.

Brian O hEadhra, Gaelic arts officer with Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Creative Scotland, will chair Highland Cool (also on Thursday) which will look at the factors which make the Highlands and Islands an attractive creative destination and the challenges and benefits of operating a creative business in the Highlands and Islands. It starts at 10am, in Eden Court, again with free entry.

XpoNorth is funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Support from HIE and its networks has allowed new talent to diversify into new international markets.

Iain Hamilton, HIE head of Creative Industries, said:
‘XpoNorth will once again feature sessions in relation to Gaelic and the creative industries at this year’s festival which will place the language and culture in front of some of the most influential decision makers globally in the creative industries.

‘These sessions are attracting interest from international delegates and we are grateful to MG ALBA, BBC ALBA, Acair and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal for their support of this year’s event.’

XpoNorth 2018 also includes events covering screen, fashion, textiles, digital and technology while the music strand will include Brian O hEadhra and Fiona Mackenzie who will be amongst those performing at venues across the city.

The team from BBC Radio nan Gàidheal’s Rapal music programme will also be recording various performances for future broadcast while presenter Derek Murray will be on a panel looking at Scotland’s Radio Sector.

XpoNorth is completely free to attend and accessible to all.

Click HERE for ticket details.