Hitting right notes with award nod

Trad on the Tyne, the new music festival created and run by Haddington Pipe Band, has been shortlisted for the Best Small Festival award in this year’s Scottish Event Awards.

The festival, which will be held this year from August 31 to September 2, is one of three events in the running for the prestigious title, with the RSPB’s Scottish Birdfair and Tiree Music Festival providing the competition.

“We are really thrilled to have been nominated for such a great award after just one year of running the festival,” said Alastair Bruce, one of the event organisers. “Last year’s festival was organised as part of the band’s 30th anniversary celebrations and was intended to be a one-off but the great support it received has led us to run it again this year.

“Getting this nomination hopefully means that we are doing something right, and we are trying to take all the lessons learned from 2011 to make the 2012 festival even better.”

The full programme for 2012 will be announced in two weeks but already news of the main concert has been published. Steele the Show, the tribute concert to the late, great East Lothian singer and songwriter, Davy Steele, will take place on the evening of Saturday 1 September and feature a long list of outstanding 
musicians.