SCOTS pop legends Wet Wet Wet are leading an array of Scottish talent to perform at an online frontline services fundraising concert.
Said to be the first ever social enterprise event dedicated to supporting frontline services the new festival is due to take place on November 30, Andrew’s Day.
Created by the organisers of the first ever digital Highland Games day long festival, Frontline Festival Scotland showcases up and coming talent alongside established Scottish music stars such as Hue and Cry, Altered Images, Bay City Rollers and Sandi Thom.
The virtual festival will be streamed over social media with viewers able to tune in throughout the day and watch it for free.
The organisers are Ceangail CIC, a social enterprise project management organisation, whose events, including the Stirling Highland Games, have raised funds for good causes since 2014. The festival will be hosted in Stirling by BBC Radio 1 DJ’s and presenters Fat Brestovca and Kathryn Wilson from 12noon as artists beam in mini sets from their own home studios.
The organisers, who say that other confirmed acts include 80s pop combo The Bluebells and former X Factor runner up Nichola McDonald, say more acts are still to be announced.
Artists confirmed for the festival include: Wet Wet Wet, Hue & Cry, Altered Images, Bay City Rollers, Sandi Thom, The Bluebells and Nicholas McDonald.
Festival organiser and Ceangail director Matt McGrandles said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has hit many sectors in Scotland, none more than the events industry which has pretty much been decimated in 2020 due to the restrictions. One positive we see emerging from the current situation is the coming together of Scottish artists, who have joined together to show their support of Scotland’s frontline charities by agreeing to perform at the inaugural Frontline Festival Scotland on St Andrews Day.
"We are appealing to both businesses and viewers to stand with them and show their support of the frontline services. Festival-goers would usually be paying upwards of £50 a ticket to attend an actual festival so albeit this one is free to watch, Ceangail has suggested that viewers could instead donate £5 to the campaign via the Just Giving pages.”
Public donations raised will support Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust, the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund and the Scottish Ambulance Service Endowment Fund.
As part of the event Ceangail will also be providing a 30 hour training programme for young people aged between 16 and 40 looking to improve their core skills needed for employment surrounding a media environment.
Hue & Cry in talking about the campaign's aim to raise awareness as well as funds for the good causes they said: “We have the greatest respect for those who volunteer their services in responding to emergencies - putting themselves under duress, and sometimes even in harm’s way, solely for the good of others. It’s an honour to play at this virtual concert - so please make all your donations as ‘actual’ as they can be!”
Sarah Cameron, cultural co-ordinator at Social Enterprise Network Scotland (SENScot) said: “Many members of our Cultural SEN have been experiencing a particularly difficult time as a result of the Covid crisis. None more so than those in the events industry. We are delighted to hear of this initiative from Ceangail and wish to congratulate Matt and his team for taking a lead in such a fashion.
"It is also great – although not surprising – that so many across the cultural community have been so keen to show their support. Throughout this current crisis, social and community enterprises have been at the forefront of numerous initiatives to support their respective communities – of either place or interest. Ceangail and the Frontline Festival Scotland is another outstanding example of this – and we wish them every success ”
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford added: “After the year we’ve all had, I can see no more fitting a tribute to a group of people than to frontline services. These people, at all times, put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. I’d like to thank the organisers of the event in putting this together for such an admirable cause.”
The festival will be free to watch at: https://www.facebook.com/frontlinefestivalscotland/
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here