A festival celebrating Gaelic culture and language is being held in the capital.
Like Burns night, the Scottish celebration which primarily honours the poet Robert Burns, Gaelic week will include festivities such as traditional folk, song, spoken word performances and ceilidhs in true Scottish fashion.
A wide range of events are taking place throughout the week.
From the Gaelic band Amadan, there will be free live music; at the Scottish Poetry Library Gaelic writer Robbie MacLeod will be talking about LGBTQ+ representation in Gaelic literature; and there is also a chance to socialise with Gaelic speakers at the Portrait Café to chat over a brew in a low-pressure environment perfect for those who might be new to the language.
When asked whether they thought the university did enough to promote Gaelic, one student said:
“I haven’t heard a lot of talk. I don’t think it’s necessarily anyone’s fault; the culture is just not known as much anymore, especially in places where it isn’t spoken like Edinburgh. I, for one, went to school in Scotland and the language was barely mentioned.”
Gaelic Week, also known as Edinburgh Gaelic Festival, was first founded by the University of Edinburgh in 2014 to recognise the Gaelic community in the capital which is estimated to house around 6.5 per cent of the world’s Gaelic speakers.
This move opened the way for a World Gaelic Week, which was later established in 2021.
The student added:
“It’s particularly important I think for the city to place emphasis on the culture because even if the language is no longer spoken as widely, it’s nice to keep the Gaelic spirit alive in other ways.”
“Looking East from Edinburgh Castle” by dun_deagh is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.