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The Bield at Blackruthven just outside of Perth will once again host for another year. Dubbed “Scotland’s most family-friendly music festival”, Solas promises an idyllic countryside weekend, with exciting live music on three stages, debates and discussions on the issues of the day, theatre and dance and a full programme of workshops and activities for children, from tiny tots to teens.
Headlining this year’s live music programme are Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat with new collaborator RM Hubbard, Jordanian/Palestinian shamstep act 47Soul, whose debut album Balfron Promise just made The Guardian’s World Music Album of the Month, and rising Scottish music star Siobhan Wilson. Look out for folk, indie, rock, hip hop, electronica and world music elsewhere on the programme, with other names including Adam Stafford, Jonnie Common, Grace Petrie, Withered Hand, Roseanne Reid, Bossy Love, Gnawa Transfusion and much more.
This year, the festival’s theme is Drift, and various artists, performances and discussions will explore the drift between peoples and places – from the songs and stories of Gaelic traveller communities, to the darker connections between Scotland and Empire. Audiences are invited to come and examine how people move in and out Scotland and around our world, and what those journeys can mean.
Hannah Lavery, recipient of the Tom McGrath Playwriting Grant and the Workers’ Theatre Megaphone residency, will be performing her solo show The Drift, exploring migrant and mixed race identities in Scotland. Professor John Curtice will be examining how Scotland votes in a discussion session. With Labour on the rise and Brexit on the cards, what do future elections hold for Scotland's politics and identity? World Slam Champion Harry Baker will be leading slam poetry workshops and performing on the main stage. Surge street theatre performers will be roaming the site, including a drag king send-up of the Gallagher brothers and a puppet show based on Aztec fairytales.
Meanwhile, parents can relax in the knowledge that their children are happy and entertained on a safe, contained site. Children under 12 go free to the festival, and camping passes are included in the price of an adult weekend ticket should you want to stay all weekend long.
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