Shetland Springs to kick off Edinburgh Tradfest 2021 Published on: 28 April 2021 Shetland Springs, a performance by four of the world’s finest Shetland fiddlers - including Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Catriona Macdonald – will launch this year’s Edinburgh Tradfest festival. Rich and distinctive tradition The hour-long online concert will celebrate the rich and distinctive fiddle tradition of the ‘spring’, -the dialect name for old Shetland dance tunes. Specially filmed for online programme, the show brings together four of the foremost contemporary Shetland fiddle players for an evening of celebration - Margaret Robertson, Chris Stout, Ross Couper and the show’s curator Catriona Macdonald, who is also a senior lecturer at Â鶹´«Ã½’s International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS).“In these times we are well overdue a musical 'spree',” said Catriona. “And I am really glad we can be part of this year’s festival." Photograph of Catriona Macdonald by Douglas Robertson A wealth of talent Edinburgh Tradfest showcases a wealth of talented home-grown and international traditional artists. It will move online for the first time this year, with a programme of recorded and live streamed music concerts, and daily podcasts. Douglas Robertson and Jane-Ann Purdy, co-producers of Edinburgh Tradfest said: “Taking the Festival online this year was a difficult decision for us. However, we couldn’t be more delighted with how this year’s programme is shaping up, and with all the support we have received from artists, funders and partners keen to see Tradfest stay on the map. “We are also excited to be able to reach a wider, international audience who might not have experienced the festival before, and hope that when they can, they will join us in Edinburgh for future Tradfests.” The will be available to watch for ten days from 8pm on Friday 30 April. Share: Latest News Scientists unlock hidden driver of inflammatory bowel disease Scientists have linked a key genetic signal in inflammatory bowel disease to an immune response that shuts down inflammation control, enabling faster diagnosis and targeted treatments. published on: 15 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
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