“The best-ever opening weekend in terms of audience numbers and performances” is how Blas 2011 organisers have described a hugely successful first weekend which was marked by sell-out performances delivered to critical acclaim throughout the Highlands and Islands.  And the response of audiences to a string of events which are singled out for special praise is set to further enhance the reputation of the Highland’s premier cultural festival.
 
Blas 2011 was opened in spectacular fashion in Beauly with a new commission – Heisgeir – from Gaelic singing sensation Julie Fowlis in the Phipps Hall, on Friday evening and then Torridon Village Hall on Saturday. Both were sell-outs and proved a major hit with audiences.
 
Donna MacRae, Director of Blas 2011 said: “The show Julie Fowlis produced through the new commission was superb.  It was technically challenging given that it was a Gaelic performance sub-titled in English, using film and a live band.  The audience in Beauly was simply stunned and we have already been approached by a number of people who have asked whether we could have the whole thing turned into a film.  It was visually and musically brilliant and the reception it has received is testament to Julie’s well-deserved reputation as one of the most accomplished and talented performers to have emerged in generations.”
 
The Beauly audience was also treated to a veritable feast of local produce and catering which is a developing innovation at the festival with events selling out at numerous venues from Lochaber to the waters of Loch Ness.
 
Donna added, “Friday night in particular was unprecedented with shows at Roy Bridge, Beauly and the Ptarmigan restaurant on Cairngorm sold out.  On Saturday night there were very healthy audiences in Portree and Inverness.  This is all a great tribute to the artistes themselves, the volunteers who have helped stage everything behind the scenes and indeed to the audiences who have continued to back Blas as a concept which delivers the highest quality of events across a wide range of venues and involving stellar lists of performers.  We are very proud of the fact that whether it be in a village hall or in the splendour of Eden Court, the top of Cairngorm or the middle of Loch Ness, we can attract very good audiences.  It’s a great start and we now look forward to the rest of the festival and further highlights.”
 
This year’s Blas festival will deliver nearly 100 cultural events between 9 and 17 September. The second of the two new commissions to feature at Blas 2011, Balach na Bonaid (The Boy and the Bunnet), will be premiered at Eden Court on Tuesday 13 September.  The performance has been described as the folk world’s answer to “Peter and the Wolf”.  Gaelic writer Aonghas MacNeacail has reworked into Gaelic the adventure story “The Boy and the Bunnet” by celebrated Scots award-winning novelist, James Robertson.  Newly commissioned music by Caithness pianist James Ross adds to the production which has as characters a stag, selkie, a craw and a cat.  The performance uses traditional Scottish instruments and musical styles to tell the story of a brave young boy who gets into danger when he goes out on an adventure.  The Narrator is Wilma Kennedy.
 
Traditional music as well as Gaelic language and song are the bedrock of the festival and, for the first time, Blas will also have a strand featuring Gaelic writers, organised in collaboration with Comhairle nan Leabhraichean - the Gaelic Books Council.
 
In a culmination of a very special synthesis, Blas 2011 is celebrating the Year of Scotland's Islands with a series of "Island Cèilidhs" showcasing some of the best known Gaelic singers from the islands along with great traditional accompaniment.  Amongst those still to appear are Paul MacCalllum, Linda MacLeod, Iain MacKay accompanied by Oban-based accordionist Sìleas Sinclair.  In the style of the wandering minstrels of bygone generations, the Blas islanders will give everyone a taste of what it’s like to be at an island cèilidh in Eigg, Mallaig, Raasay and Strathy.
 
For the first time, the 2011 Blas Festival has its own band in residence.  Now with a world-wide reputation, The Outside Track play a fabulous mix of Scottish, Canadian and Irish music and song and feature step-dance. Hailing from Scotland, Ireland, Cape Breton and Vancouver, its five members are united by a love of traditional music and a commitment to creating new music on its foundation.  They bring to Blas 2011 a unique blend of boundless energy and unmistakable joie de vivre – in anyone’s terms, the recipe for a real Highland Hooley.  The band features Mairi Rankin from Mabou in Cape Breton on fiddle, vocals and step-dance; Canadian Traditional Singer of the Year nominee Norah Rendell on vocals, flute and whistle; BBC Young Trad Finalist Ailie Robertson on harp and step-dance; BBC Fame Academy Winner Fiona Black on accordion; and Cillian Ó Dalaigh of Trazz on guitar, vocals and step-dance.

American-Irish supergroup Cherish the Ladies will be making their only Scottish appearances in 2011 at Blas.  They will appear on Wednesday 14 September in the new school at Acharacle which has recently been kitted out with raked seats, staging, PA and lights.  They will then go on to Ardgay and Wick before taking part in the Grand Finale at Eden Court on Saturday 17th along with Dàimh, Mànran, Fèis na h-Òige and Fèis a’ Bhaile.
 
High on the list of events still to come is “Hallaig”, a musical celebration of the poetry of Sorley MacLean featuring compositions by Stuart MacRae, Mary Ann Kennedy, Eilidh Mackenzie, Marie-Louise Napier, Allan Macdonald, Blair Douglas, Donald Shaw, Allan Henderson and musical director Kenneth Thomson.  

Hallaig is being staged to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sorley MacLean, in conjunction with Urras Shomhairle.  Performers at Inverness Cathedral on Friday September 16 and Sabhal Mòr Òstaig on Skye on Saturday 17th September include Dingwall Gaelic Choir, Brian McAlpine, Gordon Gunn, Dougie Pincock, Jenna Cumming, Rhona MacKay, Alasdair Whyte, Mary McCarthy, Jack Evans and Su-a Lee.

Another remarkable family, the Campbells of Greepe, will be appearing at Lochcarron Village Hall on Friday 16th before a homa gig at Dunvegan on Saturday 17th.  Kenna and Seumas Campbell, Mary Ann & Wilma Kennedy and Maggie Macdonald belong to this remarkable family of Gaelic singers who, between them, have won 7 Mòd Gold Medals.