Is there a demand for music lessons in Gaelic cultural instruments? A musical celebration of Bealltainn (Beltane) with taster sessions of traditionally Gaelic cultural instruments, providing an opportunity for our families to learn and get a chance to be involved in cultural traditions.
Project Description
At Cròileagan Siorrachd Àir a Tuath (North Ayrshire Gaelic Baby & Toddler Group) we aim to provide the opportunity for children (6 months to 4 years), their parents and carers to learn the Gaelic language, through talking, songs and games in a relaxed and welcoming environment.
Latha Buidhe Bealltainn is celebrated on May 1, the halfway mark between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, it is a time of renewal and growth, a celebration to welcome the coming summer months.
At a time when music lessons are being lost in due to budgeting constraints in education we would like to not only celebrate one of the major cultural events in the Gaelic calendar but also offer taster "have a go" sessions for traditional Gaelic instruments; bodhran, clarsach, fiddle, pipes, and song. We would like to use this as a test of the market place to see if there is a demand to learn to play traditional instruments, lessons which could be facilitated by our group. A survey will be sent out post event to follow up and gauge success of the event and inform our next steps. We will finish the afternoon inviting attendees, tutors and volunteers to perform at a ceilidh
We would like to provide this opportunity for our families to learn and get a chance to be involved in cultural traditions; most of our families don’t currently have a lot of experience or access to this culture.
Our hope is to inspire people to adopt culture and traditions. We believe exposing the children to live music at a young age will encourage them to get involved, and will help the families to provide the supportive environment that will help the children to succeed.
Our core audience is children that have not yet started school and their families. We will make sure they have chance to perform, with material we prepare at our regular toddler sessions. If capacity allows, we would also like to extend an invitation to neighbouring district East Ayrshire and include primary school children from the local Gaelic primary unit in Kilwinning, as well as the wider community. Therefore the event will be ticketed to maintain an element of control on numbers, by using an online tool such as Eventbright, for example.
For our youngest participants we believe this project will inspire them and their families to get into music. We wish to spread cultural traditions and give people access to these in an area where it can be difficult to find, particularly ones that are suitable for very young children. We believe spreading knowledge of traditions keeps them alive. For primary-aged participants we believe the performance opportunity at the ceilidh will be motivation for them to practice something and it will enhance their confidence to play/sing/etc. for an audience. This could be a stepping stone to them participating on a bigger stage at other events or putting themselves forward for competitions. For all participants we hope this may inspire them to get music and other performance into their life. If we could inspire a family to create a supportive musical environment in their own home or add a tradition to their calendar we would be extremely happy.
Costs to include
Venue hire £120
Tutor fees £600
Refreshments £150
Admin materials (posters, signage, info leaflets) £150
Location: Our group meets weekly at Ardrossan Scout hut, Kilmeny Terrace, Ardrossan.
Proposed on behalf of: Cròileagan Siorrachd Àir a Tuath (North Ayrshire Gaelic Baby & Toddler Group)
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