19 Jul 2021

INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE SEES HEBCELT FESTIVAL BEGIN PANDEMIC BOUNCE BACK

An international audience tuned in to watch live streaming, pre-recorded digital content and special commissions during the four-day music and cultural Survival Sessions event, produced by the HebCelt Festival.

The Survival Sessions delivered 32 hours of programme content (14th to 17th July), with people tuning in online from the USA, Australia and 12 other countries.

Local music talent played a key role in the programme. Willie Campbell, who featured in two of the shows, said: “It’s hard to overstate how important the Survival Sessions have been this year. HebCelt is part of the islands culture and, as always, I’m delighted to have been Involved. The atmosphere had a unique quality. We’ve all felt like we were taking part in something important and special. It’s great to see how strongly the festival has supported local musicians and creatives. It’s been so appreciated by all.”

Caroline Maclennan, HebCelt Festival Director, said: “We have been humbled to receive the many messages of enjoyment and support from our creative community. We can’t thank our funders and supporters enough. They are absolutely critical to our survival in any year and deserve praise for the roles they play in ensuring we are able to create the annual festival, which is so important to our culture, artists and ultimately the local economy. They have helped us to create a fresh legacy of content and they are aiding our bounce-back from the pandemic.

“We’re delighted to see that the Survival Sessions have inspired so many musicians both home-based and from around Scotland which allowed us to produce a high quality event which was essentially a TV broadcast of live and pre-record material.

“Live streaming content from a green field site has its challenges but the success of this year’s event has been down to the amazing technical and creative talent that the islands have in abundance, and a first class venue to broadcast from. We are deeply indebted to all who have been agile and adaptable to enable us to reach a global audience, and we are happy that we managed to provide a safe and really enjoyable four nights of live music in-person. I know how much it meant to those who played in the auditorium to have that spark of interaction with their audience.”

Other countries that tuned in to the Survival Sessions included: Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Canada.

HebCelt is supported by Creative Scotland, EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and other public and private sector supporters

Survival Sessions can still be watched on the MyPlayer platform. Details and tickets can be found here.

Survival Sessions performers can be heard talking about their shows in a series of HebCelt podcasts.

Posted in News on Jul 19, 2021