This year, Scotland’s winter festival season is looking to kick off with a new hybrid St Andrew’s Day celebration involving an amazing selection of creative arts performances throughout the day, and the organisers are calling on everyone to get involved.

Ceangail, based in Stirling, is the social enterprise behind this new venture and they continue to create projects and events that benefit more than just their social aim of providing practical learning experiences for young people. The newly named, Caledonia Festival will look at celebrating Scotland’s national holiday with music, comedy, talks, heritage and so much more.

Ceangail’s Director, Matt McGrandles, explains, “It’s been a tough couple of years for the events industry but it has given us time to look at opportunities as well as when and where we deliver them in the events calendar. We were keen to do something towards the end of the year and our St Andrew’s Day idea has worked in well.”

“Our aim is for the Caledonia Festival to grow into more than just a one day event and at more than just one location in Scotland. We are delighted to have already secured support from EventScotland however, we do need further sponsorship to be able to deliver everything planned. Due to the pandemic, this year is about building from the grassroots up so we are also calling on all performers, comedians, artists and otherts to get in touch with us if they wish to help celebrate and be part of the festival’s events programme.”

The organisers are also looking at producing a short film on what Scotland means to people, with a mini tour in the pipeline surrounding visits to some iconic locations as well as some intriguing ones. It’s this opportunity in creating something special around St Andrew’s Day, that they believe will secure the necessary support from everyone and help the festival grow into a must visit attraction in the Scottish event calendar.

The Festival line up will be announced later in the month but in the meantime you can register for updates via www.caledoniafest.org or for venues and creative arts you can email your details to office@caledoniafest.org.