The Festivals Roll On
AS DAVE SMITH’s cartoon reminds us, if it’s August it must be the Edinburgh festival extravaganza again. Kicking off right at the end of July with the Jazz Festival and taking in the full razzmatazz of...
View ArticleReasons To Be Cheerful
THE SUMMER may be wearing on, but there is still plenty going around the area. The Blas Festival takes pride of place this month, with Blair Douglas’s much anticipated Gaelic Mass heading a busy...
View ArticleIn Defence of Dialect
I BEGIN this month with an apology. In September, Northings ran a review of a reading of George Gunn’s play Fields of Barley in Thurso. I received an e-mail from John Cairns, writing on behalf of both...
View ArticleNot so Jolly Roger
THE INVERNESS WINTER FESTIVAL 2009 got off to a rocky start when a single complaint about a Jolly Roger flying from the flagpole on the Town House led to the removal of the “offending” item, apparently...
View ArticleTriumph Over Adversity
WHERE did 2009 go? It hardly seems any time since I was last writing the final editorial of the year. It has certainly been a busy one for arts in the Highlands & Islands, and we have covered more...
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Back On The Road
APART from the usual extravaganza that is Celtic Connections down the road in Glasgow, it has been a fairly quiet start to the new year – and a new decade – in the arts around the Highlands &...
View ArticleCold Winds Blowing
GUITARIST Graeme Stephen was pointing out to me the other day that whenever he is involved in a Tune Up tour, it seems to snow. He won’t be disappointed this time, then, when he takes his excellent...
View ArticleLightening the Gloom
THESE columns have struck a rather pessimistic note of late, and there is a bit more of that to come below, but what better antidote to the gloom over the parlous state of arts funding than a bit of...
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Have Your Say On Budget Cuts
FESTIVAL season is upon us again, and while there is plenty to look forward to, the proposed two-day Rock4Life event featuring Status Quo, REM, Sugababes and others planned for Arderseir has now been...
View ArticleDoubts and Uncertainties
HAVING begun last month with a comment on the demise of a major music festival planned for the region, it seems only fair to acknowledge the successful way in which RockNess has become established as a...
View ArticleMoving Up The Queue
TWO YEARS ago Matthew Zajac enjoyed a major success at the Edinburgh Fringe with The Tailor of Inverness, and he will be hoping that Dogstar Theatre can do it again when they take Caithness-born writer...
View ArticleHeart of the Matter
FOLLOWING the problems experienced earlier in the summer with a major music event foundering, it is good to see that the event which kick-started the current popularity of big outdoor music festivals...
View ArticleWelcome Additions to Musical Life
THE BLAS Festival was in the news earlier this year for the wrong reasons following the announcement of a planned 30% cut in the festival’s funding from Highland Council, as part of the current drive...
View ArticleChange in the Air
The early morning mists and forecast of rain and gales for the weekend are further reminders – along with the distinct nip in the air – that Autumn is now fairly upon us, with winter not too far away....
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An Exciting New Chapter for Northings
NORTHINGS enters an exciting new phase with the launch of our radically restructured website this month. Regular readers will know that Northings is devoted to covering the arts and culture in the...
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New Maps For Old?
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE is something that we are hearing more and more about these days, and if it is not yet widespread in the arts world, that is a scenario that may change, according to a number of...
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Northings Wants You!
THE FINAL months of last year marked a huge change on Northings, and we would like to thank all of you who have signed up as members so far, and are starting to use the social networking facilities of...
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Ishbel MacAskill (1941-2011)
THE SHOCKING news that Gaelic singer Ishbel MacAskill has died after falling in the kitchen of her home in Inverness has over-shadowed the proposed topics of this Editorial, which I will save for...
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North By North East
WHILE there are clear indications that touring theatre productions is getting harder and harder as financial restrictions bite, the Northern Scottish Touring Fund will provide one ray of light amid the...
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Festival Season
FESTIVAL time is now upon us with a vengeance. They come in all shapes and sizes, some barely impacting beyond a single village, others in the full glare of national attention, and each with their own...
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HI-wireless Takes Off
JULY brings a number of exciting new developments to the Northings and HI-Arts websites. NORTHINGS is delighted to host HI-wireless, the brainchild of Euan Martin and Dave Smith, the co-directors of...
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Creative Opportunities
IT WILL not come as news to anyone likely to be reading this Editorial that public funding of the arts is not in a buoyant phase. GIVEN that fact, Creative Scotland’s announcement of a new three-year...
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A Voyage Around A Highland Icon
EDEN Court Theatre already has something a track record in mounting its own productions, both on a relatively modest scale through the work of John Batty and the Education Unit, and in the annual...
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A Sad Farewell and A New Arrival
THE Nairn International Jazz Festival was very much the creation of Ken Ramage, the Forres-based businessman and jazz fan who died recently. Although the festival had not taken place since 2009, it...
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Feast and Famine
Modern and contemporary jazz generally does not get a great look in around the Highlands, with a few honourable exceptions. WHILE still basking in the glow of a superb concert at Eden Court featuring...
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Morrison’s Van Hits The Road
THIS MONTH sees the culmination of the first series of Hi-wireless, which has been running on Northings since July. While we are delighted to have been able to offer a platform for this project, credit...
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Be Creative!
THE YEAR of Creative Scotland 2012 gets underway on 1 January. Depending on how you look at it, though, the latest Scottish Government-sponsored extravaganza is an odd notion. DOES it mean that we in...
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Slow Start to Year of Creative Scotland
I DON’T know about you, but I can’t remember a slower start to the year in the arts in these parts, certainly not in the last decade. EVEN the normally reliable Eden Court could only muster two stage...
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The Future of Northings
NORTHINGS is approaching a major crossroads with changes to our funding from Highlands & Islands Enterprise. THE web-based journal has been what we hope is a valuable and valued part of the...
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A New Challenge for Northings
AS WE approach the completion of nine years of covering arts and culture in the Highlands & Islands, Northings faces a new set of challenges, and a new opportunity. Dave Smith’s cartoon (and surely...
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Riding the Groundswell
THE FESTIVAL season is hotting up again, and the Highlands & Islands will enjoy their share of the action. THE prodigious growth of festivals of all sizes and kinds has been one of the more...
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A Muted Response to Bad News?
WHAT will Creative Scotland’s latest funding changes mean for the arts in Scotland? PERHAPS we are all just a bit ground down by the relentless bad economic news of recent years, but I would have...
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A New Way to Contribute to Northings
THIS MONTH we are launching a new opportunity for members of the Northings Community to take a fuller part in the site. WHILE our commissioned reviews and articles will remain the backbone of our...
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Bucking the Trend
WHILE there is evidence that audiences for many events are being reduced by the current belt-tightening operation most of us are experiencing, it doesn’t seem to be impinging much on the big festivals...
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Surely Not Already?
GROWING older brings with it more than just creaking joints and a bus pass. THE vague conviction that time is speeding up grows ever stronger as each year flashes past seemingly a notch or two faster...
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Mareel launches at a difficult time
SHETLAND ARTS have announced the official launch of the first season of programmes in the new Mareel venue in Lerwick. THE organisation also responded very promptly to my moan in last month’s editorial...
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Creative Scotland Still Under Fire
THE PROTEST over the way in which Creative Scotland is working with its clients continues to gain momentum. FOLLOWING a fair bit of recent criticism in the press, last month saw an escalation in...
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More Pain In Store?
THE NEWS that Newcastle Council have opted to drop their entire budget allocation for the arts sends a warning that the pain of spending cuts is far from over, and may just be beginning. THE draconian...
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Celebrating Natural Scotland
THE latest flagship pseudo-festival from the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland is upon us. THE Year of Natural Scotland 2013 event launched with the opening performances of Infinite Scotland...
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The End of This Road
THE DEMISE of Northings is, I believe, a severe blow to the arts community in the Highlands & Islands. AS THE only editor of the journal since its inception ten years ago, I would say that,...
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