The countdown to the Blas Festival’s ‘Blast-off’ has started and organisers are happy to report that tickets for all events in the programme are selling so well that ‘full house’ signs have been printed up as a precaution.  Those without tickets should not despair however because tickets for all gigs are still available though being snapped up steadily.
The extent to which people have pre-booked tickets for this year’s Blas has encouraged but not surprised Festival Manager, Donna Cunningham. “There has been an impressive demand for tickets since they first went on sale. While we are very happy with this situation it doesn’t come as a shock to us because we were confident that locals and tourists alike would find the programme offered by Blas attractive and great value for money. Sales built up a bit of momentum because of our ‘earlybird’ offer which provided reduced prices for those booking early. It has been building a head of steam since then and the great start Blas made in its inaugural year in 2005 is set to be comfortably bettered this year.”
Blas gets underweigh this Friday evening with exciting and talent-packed concerts in Fort William, Inverinate, Achiltibuie, Wick and Nairn and so it continues for the ensuing seven days. A total of 43 different events in 38 venues spread widely though the Highlands are programmed for this festival representing a 50% growth on last year’s Blas. Though Blas has expanded and further developments are anticipated for next year, the basic philosophy of the festival remains the same. From the outset its objectives were to promote traditional music in the Highlands, to encourage the use of Gaelic, make links with other cultures with which the Highland has an affinity and to ensure the participation of young musicians from the area. Satisfying all these criteria is a challenge according Blas’s Artistic Director, Brian O hEadhra but he feels that as the festival grows it will not lose sight of the features which make it special. “By being faithful to Blas’s original philosophy, I think we have created a festival which is unique. It is also a formula which works for this area – you only have to look at the variety and diversity in the programme to appreciate this, and the fact that Blas tickets are selling like hotcakes is another endorsement of the Blas philosophy. Though we are looking for a bigger and better festival in 2007, the year in which Scotland celebrated Highland Culture, Blas guiding principles will remain the same.”