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One Scotland Ceilidh
01/12/2005
A crowd of 4,000 attended the One Scotland Ceilidh on Edinburgh's Royal Mile last night to celebrate St Andrew's Day.
Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm, who opened the event, said:
"We said that this year we would be celebrating Scotland's many cultures on our national day and it was great to see so many people coming together at last night's One Scotland Ceilidh to celebrate, enjoying the variety of music and dancing. This was the first event of its kind and I am delighted that the ceilidh and concert were such a success."
David Jackson, Manager of Edinburgh's Winter Festivals, said:
"As the first St Andrew's One Scotland Ceilidh we are delighted by how well the night went. There was a great atmosphere with everyone enjoying the music in the street and the dancing in The Hub. It looked fantastic with saltires adding to Edinburgh's sparkle. We hope that a St Andrew's Day event will become a regular addition to Edinburgh's Winter Festivals."
The celebrations began with the Boghall & Bathgate Pipe band and the Tartan Dholies, who performed together outside The Hub, providing a unique mix of traditional Scottish pipe music and Sikh drums and proceeded down to the concert stage on the Lawnmarket.
The Dougie MacLean band, Peatbog Faeries, Wild Cigarillos and Croft No.5 also performed during the evening.
The Hub hosted acts reflecting the influence of Scotland's many cultures with Tablao Flamenco - a Spanish flamenco band - and an acoustic set from Norwegian band Fribo.
Pete Irvine, Unique Events, said:
"Its always difficult to know how things are going to work out when you do them for the first time, especially outdoors in the winter. But we were delighted both with the site that we used at the top of the Royal Mile, which turned out to be a perfect setting, and with the turnout. The various bands and other entertainment were enthusiastically received and over the evening we believe we entertained around 4,000 people."