Fèisean nan Gàidheal was established in 1991 as the independent umbrella association of the Fèis movement. It is a membership organisation that offers a range of services to its members including officer support, grant-aid, training, insurance, Gaelic language support, central Disclosure checking and instrument loans.
Fèisean nan Gàidheal is a company limited by guarantee, registered number SC130071. It is a Scottish Charity, number SC002040, funded by Creative Scotland, Bòrd na Gàidhlig and, occasionally, the Scottish Government which delivers contracts for a wide range of organisations including The Highland Council, Argyll & Bute Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, High Life Highland and a consortium of local authorities which offer Gaelic language learning.
Angus Robertson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, Constitution and Culture said in an address to the organisation’s 2021 Annal Conference: ”I’m aware that, as an organisation, you’ve never stood still and have always been developing and building on the work of previous years. Fèisean nan Gàidheal has enriched the cultural life of Scotland, with its strong support for traditional music and Gaelic, and we all look forward to this continuing in the months and years ahead.”
The current sense of revival in both the traditional music scene and Gaelic language development in Scotland is, in no small measure, due to the success of the Fèis movement.
Fèisean nan Gàidheal is currently one of Creative Scotland’s regularly funded organisations and supports 47 tuition-based Fèisean that offer tuition in traditional Gaelic arts to young people across Scotland. For over 40 years, Fèisean have been tutoring young people in traditional music, Gaelic song and Gaelic drama with around 6,000 young people annually taking part, numbers having recovered in the wake of the pandemic.
Fèisean nan Gàidheal is responsible for delivering the annual Blas Festival, in partnership with The Highland Council, and supports Fèisean whch organise Cèilidh Trails enabling young people to play to an audience of thousands annually.
Our Fèisgoil service delivers Gaelic language arts activities to a further 13,000 young people. Through the service we organise music tuition through the Youth Music Initiative and teach Gaelic language to support GLE and the 1+2 languages initiative. Over the past couple of years, Fèisgoil delivered an ambitious arts project – Treòir Voar Virr – offered to all island schools in Scotland and a video with some of the outcomes can be viewed here.
Drama work is a feature of our programme, with plays that tour Gaelic medium schools and those where Gaelic is taught as a second language, a Gaelic pantomime and a Gaelic Drama Summer School each year. 5 Latha, held in the Isle of Lewis, offers teenagers the opportunity to undertake a range of activities through the medium of Gaelic.
Together with support for other organisations as well as individuals through Tasgadh and Maoin nan Ealan Gàidhlig (funds we disburse on behalf of Creative Scotland and Bòrd na Gàidhlig), physical audiences for live events and online audiences for the likes of Oide, Fuaran and FèisTV, we engage with over 100,000 people annually.
The organisation’s current Programme Plan, EDI Plan, a further document with background information and a presentation with links to examples of our work as well as a map showing the geographical spread of our work are all available to download on the right-hand side of the page. A downloadable version on the history of the first 25 years of the Feis Movement can also be accessed there.
A full list of staff is shown here with their respective responsibilities.
A list of members of the Board which governs Fèisean nan Gàidheal is available here along with Board meeting papers.
