Week-long ’Hope festival to mark Highland 2007
(Story dated: Saturday, February 17, 2007)

If you’ve always wanted to try ballroom dancing, painting, or even learn to play an instrument, then St Margaret’s Hope is the place to be next weekend.

A week long festival is planned to coincide with Highland 2007 — the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture — in the village’s Cromarty Hall.

Twenty workshop sessions will be held between February 24 and March 2, hosted by local craftspeople hoping to pass on their skills to others.

Workshops in art, music, drama and dance will be held to encourage people in Orkney to experience new skills and crafts first hand, and learn for themselves.

The project is being supported by Highland 2007, Orkney Islands Council and HIE Orkney.

Sarah Sankey, one of the organisers, said: “We’ve got quite a line up of workshops and will be running a cafe during the time to fuel brain cells and also to see what the reaction to a cafe would be.

“On the first Saturday night, Rory McLeod is playing, so hopefully that will add to the week.”

The event kicks off with a performance from multi-talented Rory in the Cromarty Hall, on February 24, at 7.30pm.

Owner of the Inkstone Gallery and well-respected artist Louise Scott will hold workshops in copper-plate etching, and with her many years of experience, Moira Budge will teach people the art of face painting.

Well-known painter and experienced tutor Sheena Graham-George will run a workshop covering basic techniques for painting, and artists may also enjoy a workshop led by Tim Wooton, focusing on drawing wildlife.

Trish Spence will run a session on the basics of soapstone sculpture, and head of art and design at Orkney College Morag Tweedie will be teaching the skill of heat transfer printing in a hands-on workshop involving an exciting print process.

Christina Sargent will give people an introduction to felt making, and participants will create their own pieces.

Photographer Sharon Crossley will also run a session on improving photographic skills.

For those who’d like to take up an instrument, accomplished guitar and mandolin player Dick Levens will run a workshop designed for beginners whould like to learn to play either instrument.

Erik Laughton, whose musical talents are in demand in Orkney and further afield, will run a workshop helping people to master the skills involved in playing the bodhran.

Fiddle players will have the opportunity to learn with Douglas Montgomery, who will be running an Orkney fiddle session.

This workshop is designed for those who know the basics, and the bodhran players will be joining forces with the fiddlers to make music together.

Drama teacher Diane Bain will hold a drama workshop, and keen singers can develop their skills with professional musicians and founders of the ‘Song Shop,’ Aimee Leonard and Emily Turton.

Keen dancers may wish to take part in a Scottish country dancing workshop hosted by established tutor, Anne Peace, or to try waltz, tango, quickstep and samba with Lesley Livsey.

Those who fancy themselves in the director’s chair can take part in a taster session in film making, with film editor and teacher Mark Jenkins who has just moved to Orkney.

Rhoda Featherstone will host a taster session to South Ronaldsay for the healthy eating courses she runs in the college and the outer isles.

A two-session beginners’ course in knitting — ‘Doing It With Sticks and Strings’ — will take place with Liz Lovick, who has run several successful knitting events in the past.

She will also be teaching lace-making, or ‘knitting holes’, and a session in spinning yarns on spindles will take place. A wheel is helpful but not essential.

All workshops will be two-three hours in length, and morning sessions run from 10am. Afternoon sessions run from 2pm, and evening sessions from 7.30pm.

Each session costs £2, and as spaces on each workshop are limited, booking is essential. Contact Lesley Livsey on 01856 831401 for more information on workshops and to book a place.

Tickets for Rory McLeod’s show cost £5 and are available from Dick Levens on 831592. The concert kicks off at 7.30pm.