Save the date for next year’s Festival Écossais 1782 in the south of France!
The organizers of the Festival Écossais 1782 have announced the dates for next year’s edition in Saint-Andiol: 29-30 June 2024. Mark it in your calendars and think about joining us there. See this account of Europe for Scotland’s presence at the 2023 edition this past July.
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The sun shines generously, the cicadas sing softly, as do the leaves high in the trees of the stately park of Saint-Andiol, a small, flowering gem of a village not far from historic Avignon. And as you survey the park’s dappled lawns, its villages of stalls and stages and tartaned gatherings, you might just do a double-take as you hear the airs of Fear a’ bhàta (The Boatman’s Song), Scotland the Brave, or Flower of Scotland. You will hear chanters testing their reeds and see pipers heaving to fill their bagpipes, readying themselves for a parade through the park, a contest of highland dance, the throwing of the caber, or a simple impromptu piping session as festival-goers sip their cider in the shade after visiting a stall of French-bred Angus cows or the haunted Château Andiol.
These are the sounds and sensations of the Festival Écossais 1782, borne out of the passion and intuition of its organizers, Erik and Marie-Nadège. Each had been enchanted with Scotland before they’d even met and both are convinced that there is enormous appetite in the south of France to savour and celebrate Scottish culture. They are not wrong. The first festival attracted over 2000 visitors. This second, a year later, over three times that much. The Festival has now established itself as an annual Franco-Scottish summer rendez-vous in France – along with the Festival Interceltique de Lorient and Fêtes Franco-Ecossaises.
Perhaps most intriguing is that in addition to infusing France with fresh Auld Alliance spirit, making way once again for the fervent affinities of the past, the Festival seeks out contemporary artistic and cultural productions from both Scotland and France. Marie-Nadège and Erik, both musicians themselves, are adamant about fostering the work of today’s Scottish and French artists. This year’s festival included both European and Scottish guests, notably the music of The Sidh and Off the Boat or the prodigious highland dancing of Keltika and Anna Highland Dance France. This way, it is both a celebration and a cultural meeting point.
Europe for Scotland was right in the midst of it all, collaborating with Scotland in Europe, a collective of Scottish artists seeking to perform and produce on the continent. Together we showcased a concert by poet/singer Linda Jackson and guitarist/producer Fraser John Lindsay, both from Glasgow, featuring Scottish and “blues” stylings, reflecting, as Linda explained, a whole wave of enthusiasm across Scotland for the blues.
Next came a roundtable discussion with both Linda and fellow poet from Aberdeen, Lesley Benzie, writing in Aberdeen Doric, and each read from their most recent poetry collaboration, Wanderlust Women. Both stated that they had been “devastated” by Brexit. Their poetry, written often from locations throughout Europe, asserts their European-ness as an extension of being Scottish, not only as an expression of their outward-looking curiosity about the world, but especially, as a critical means of forging personal identity.
At Europe for Scotland’s stall, we proposed quizzes about Scotland for both young and old, screened At the Heart of Europe: a Celebration of Scotland’s European History, and racked up new signatories to our petition. We even offered a special screening to about 30 members of the local chapter of an exclusive whisky-tasting ‘confrérerie’. Our stall was right beside the clans of the MacKinnons, Scotts, and MacMillans (as throughout Europe, many clans have chapters in France). We were at once in complicity, commemorating the end of the festival together in our own family photo with the clans, a happy symbol of an inclusive Europe, extending its hand to all Scots in welcome. Aye.
Europe for Scotland stands with a first gathering of the clans at Saint-Andiol: the Scotts (left), the MacMillans (center), and the MacKinnons (right).
On the right, Festival organizers Marie-Nadège and Erik.
A fair-sized crowd gathered to hear Scottish musicians and poets from Scotland in Europe and later participate in a Q&A session.