Friday September 13th 2024
Image: Open invite traditional music session at Dunbar Music Festival 2023
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Luke Jackson
Dunbar is gearing up to tuck into a musical feast from 27-29 September as organisers of Dunbar Music Festival, one of Scotland’s longest running festivals, unveil its largest collection of musical events to date.
More than 40 free gigs and ticketed concerts will take place in 17 venues across the town, with the Monk’s Retreat at Belhaven Brewery visitor centre and the Harbour Chapel fresh additions to the line-up for this year.
With a wide range of musical styles on offer, organisers are expecting to welcome an influx of visitors to the town as local accommodation providers look set for a busy weekend of trading.
The tradition of mixing well-known musicians with local talent grows greater this year with three specially curated concerts on offer. Tickets for the Friday night concert in Dunbar Parish Church headlined by the acclaimed Scottish folk singer-songwriter Karine Polwart sold out in under a week. Karine will be performing with renowned jazz/folk pianist Dave Milligan and supported by local act Morven and the McArdles.
A father-daughter double bill of Alex and Martha Cornish will take place in the tranquil setting of the Harbour Chapel on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 5.30pm. Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and Dunbar resident Alex has featured extensively on the BBC Radio 2 singles playlist and performed a number of sessions for Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 1, BBC Radio Scotland as well as providing the soundtrack for a number of TV programmes. His daughter Martha is carving out her own musical persona and has become a popular fixture of the Dunbar Music Festival for the last two years, as well as supporting a growing range of Scottish musicians.
Completing the trio of concerts is a hotly anticipated solo performance of BC Camplight, the moniker of maverick songsmith and pianist Brian Christinzio on the Saturday in Dunbar Parish Hall. Fresh from performing at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall following a stint at Glastonbury, the Philadelphian-turned-Mancunian will be supported by emerging Glasgow talent Michael McGovern.
The youth band showcase supported by East Lothian Youth Music Forum which was introduced for the first time in 2023 is back by popular demand on the Saturday from 11am until 3pm. Bands from Dunbar Grammar, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Ross High and Knox Academy bands will take to the stage.
A new addition to the programme for 2024 is the introduction of a buskers’ takeover of Dunbar High Street between 11am and 4pm; organisers are delighted to be offering more opportunities for emerging musicians and singers to get the chance to perform.
Neil Allison is chair of the Dunbar Music Festival, which operates as a community interest company. He said:
“We’re really proud of the programme our committee of volunteers has brought together this year. We are really passionate about creating opportunities to enjoy live music – either as fans or performers and we’ve worked really hard to make this as accessible to the whole community. Music is literally going to be ringing out across every part of our beautiful town for the whole of the festival weekend and we encourage everyone to come along and enjoy it.”
A very special musical party in the park will take place in Lauderdale Park. Youth choir Dunbar Voices, who performed as part of the Edinburgh International Festival last month, will open for Shunpike Social Club on the Saturday afternoon, a Brazilian and Cuban big band collective of 30-odd brass, reeds and rhythm players. Sunday afternoon sees the return of 2023 favourite, The Banjo Lounge Four.
The family-friendly programme extends into the evening for the first time, with the introduction of a festival ceilidh on Saturday in West Barns Bowling Club. It will be expertly led by fiery Scots folk trio SKELPT who recently performed at the Sparkling Arts Festival and regularly perform across Scotland, Germany and Denmark. Tickets for the ceilidh are priced at £4 adults / £1 kids, and organisers hope that Dunbar’s reputation for taking to their feet when the reels and jigs start, will draw a good crowd.
Neil continued:
“We are really grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund for their support in funding the community ceilidh. Dunbar Grammar School’s Christmas ceilidh became an internet sensation a couple of years ago and we’re really hoping that we’ll have a great turnout for a fabulous night of dancing.”
More information on the 2024 festival programme can be found on the festival website: https://www.dunbarmusicfestival.co.uk/2024-overview.
Printed programmes will be stocked in high street shops from 16 September. Tickets for the ceilidh and concerts are also available to buy direct from the website.
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