Preview of Kinross-shire Music Festival

Nov 11 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE programme for the Kinross-shire Music Festival next weekend (November 17-20) is packed with more than 30 live performances, including an array of local young talent.

Organised by KLEO (Kinross-shire Local Events Organisation), this festival pops up at 12 venues in Kinross and Milnathort, where performances will range from rock, jazz, folk, blues and classical.

Solo artists to a big band will play live, while the range of participation events includes a ceilidh, children’s/youths’ discos, ballroom dancing and 21 free workshops. Also on the programme is the RSPBA Dundee Perth Angus Branch Solo Piping and Drumming Competition.

And as part of KLEO’s aim to promote community involvement for all in Kinross-shire, the festival organisers are very pleased to include a special free session of Kinross’s Dance Dudes – a dance class aimed in particular for those of lesser ability and with learning and mobility challenges but very much open to all and everyone. This will take place on Saturday from 1.30pm until 2.30pm at the Masonic Hall in Kinross.

There will be plenty of home-grown young talent performing at the Kinross-shire Music Festival – organisers hope the festival will be a stepping stone for some of them.

The youngest performer is 13-year-old Ryan Hunter (Iain Hunter The Singing Butcher’s son) who will be performing songs from artists such as The Who, Brain May, Killers and Bruno Mars; Esme MacIntyre is 16-years-old and plays the clarsach; 19-year-old singer/songwriter Gillian Shackleton will perform her own songs in the Green Hotel lounge and her rock band Blue Fuse will perform twice on Sunday; the members of uplifting folk band Brothers & Lovers are also in their late teens; and James Ross, is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Kinross whose repertoire includes rock, pop, jazz and folk.

Much of the entertainment has free entry; some events have an £2.50 entrance fee, payable on the door, and a £10 Rover Ticket gives unlimited access to all the £2.50 events; and tickets for the main events (The Big Dance, Gaberlunzie, The Fell, Dante) and the Rover ticket are for sale via Sands Ironmongers in Kinross, the Post Office in Milnathort and the website www.k-m-f.org.uk, where full details can be found.

The Kinross-shire Music Festival is part-financed by Awards for All and the Scottish Government and the European Community Rural Tayside LEADER 2007-2013 Programme.