THE Year of Scotland in Australia 2020 will kick off in style as Woodford Folk Festival celebrates the New Year with a traditional Scottish Hogmanay party on 31 December 2019.
Hosted at the festival’s largest venue – The Amphitheatre, Queensland – festival-goers will bring in the New Year celebrating with the very best contemporary Trad musicians from Scotland – including multi-award winning Scottish artists, Elephant Sessions, Siobhan Miller and Brighde Chaimbeul, who will take to the stage with Australian artists, including Yarrabah Dancers, Jinibara Emerging Dance Troupe, the Traditional Women Healers of North East Arnhem Land, Rick Roser, and more secret ‘pop up’ guests.
In an unique twist, Elephant Sessions will see themselves bringing in the New Year on opposite sides of the world as they kick off the Year of Scotland in Australia 2020 celebrations at Woodford Folk Festival, at the same time as celebrating with audiences back home as they broadcast into homes across the country with a performance on BBC Scotland’s Hogmanay Show.
Elephant Sessions commented: “We’re buzzing at the fact that we’ll be playing a Hogmanay show in two hemispheres!
“The warmth of the Scottish welcome is what Hogmanay is known across the world for and it’s great to share this with friends, in the warmth of the Australian sun. We hope some of our Australian audiences might join us in Scotland next year!”
Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, said: “The Year of Scotland in Australia is a phenomenal opportunity to further Scotland’s enduring relationship with Australia, with musicians from both sides of the globe sharing our dynamic traditional music scene.
“My hope is that new working partnerships will be forged, creating demand for continued Scottish performances beyond 2020, and encouraging our friends Down Under to come to Scotland and experience all we have to offer.”
Alan Morrison, head of Music at Creative Scotland, said: “All the way through the calendar year we’ll be opening the eyes and ears of Australian audiences to the very best of Scotland’s folk and trad music.
“Our tradition bearers are respected the world over and have already established a strong presence for Scottish music in the Australian market.
“Many of them have passed our centuries-old culture on to a new generation of musicians who are creating their own vibrant forms of folk and trad for the 21st century.
“This irrepressible wave of talent has been nurtured for decades – in schools and feisan, conservatoires and clubs – and it is primed and ready to take Australia by storm.
“There’s a natural interest in Scottish culture in a country whose diaspora has family roots that go deep into Scottish soil, but the Year of Scotland in Australia is a celebration that will strike a chord with anyone who enjoys good music played brilliantly by world-class artists.”
Elsewhere in the festival, Scottish food and drink will be prevalent with celebrity chef, Matt Golinski, cooking up a twist on a Scottish Feast, and whisky tastings from The Glenturret in the new whisky bar, offering the chance for a wee dram.
Now in its 34th year, the Woodford Folk Festival is recognised as the largest gathering of artists and musicians in Australia.
Located in between the Brisbane Valley and Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the festival takes place in a rural valley surrounded by natural bushland with plenty of native wildlife and a superb view of the Glass House Mountains.
The festival site, a former dairy farm, has been lovingly regenerated with over 120,000 sub-tropical rain forest trees, orchids, and ferns, planted to create a habitat for butterflies and wildlife.
From the Noosa and District Pipe Band piping in the ritual welcoming of Scottish artists by Indigenous Australian artists, and a magical lead in to the solemn moments prior to the 3 Minutes of Silence, sitewide, at 11:30pm, it’s expected that Hogmanay will provoke happy reminiscences for those who’ve already travelled to Scotland, and inspire those who haven’t yet visited.
The celebrations mark the beginning of the Year of Scotland in Australia 2020 – a programme of events running until 31 December 2020 which will see hundreds of Scotland’s finest Traditional, Gaelic and Celtic musicians take to the stage in festivals, towns and cities across Australia.
Produced and curated by Showcase Scotland Expo and Woodfordia Inc in partnership with Australia’s key festivals and event organisers, The Year of Scotland in Australia 2020 is backed by Creative Scotland, The Scottish Government, The Glenturret whisky, and VisitScotland.
To keep up to date with YOSA 2020’s year-long programme of events, detailed information and ticket links, visit: www.yearofscotlandaustralia2020.com and follow @YOSA2020 #YOSA2020 #ScotlandIsNow
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