This attractive deal is being made available to every school in the Highlands and, given the varied and geographically dispersed nature of the event venues, most schools in the area are within ‘striking distance’ of at least one Blas performance.

Donna Cunningham, Blas’s administrator, helped arranged concessionary rates for pupils and she is delighted that the Festival has been able to make attendance at its events by youngsters much cheaper than would have been normally the case. “Blas is not simply a traditional music festival it is also geared to promoting the Gaelic language and culture and it also has a strong accent on youth. We have pulled out the stops to have young artists for the area appearing on the same stage as more mature, more recognised performers and now we want to ensure that as many youngsters as possible get an opportunity to attend the fantastic rage of shows being staged during the Festival. The special deals we have made for schools will certainly help in that regard.”

The Highland Council’s Music Development Officer, Norman Bolton also welcomed this initiative.  “Traditional music plays an important part in the musical life of so many of our schools and it is encouraging to find that Blas is supporting young people both as artists and audience.”

Interested schools should book directly through the local promoter for each event and their relevant ‘ticket telephone numbers’ can be found on the Blas brochure.

If any school has difficulty contacting the relevant promoter they should call  Donna Cunningham on 01463 783032, 9.00am-5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

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