Calling all Forth Valley bands: Competition launched to join the line-up for 2019 Sruighlea Festival

Local bands in and around Forth Valley are being offered the opportunity to join the line-up for the 2019 Sruighlea [Sreee-lie] Festival, Stirling’s annual cultural outdoor event, which returns to Stirling Sports Village for its second year on Saturday 17^th August.

Evolving from the success of the Stirling Highland Games, Sruighlea offers visitors a mix of traditional highland games competitions, arts and crafts stalls, a foodie festival and a variety of children’s activities, culminating with an evening programme of live music called the Sruighlea Sessions.

Local radio station Stirling City Radio is calling on Forth Valley bands to get in touch with a demo tape and background information for the chance to be included in a shortlist of eight who will be invited to perform live on air during the six weeks leading up to the Festival.

James Russell, Station Manager of Stirling City Radio, commented:

“Stirling City Radio is delighted to be partnering FVSE CIC and the Cultural Business Fund Scotland to deliver Stirling’s biggest performance event this year, the Creative Arts Festival at Sruighlea 2019, Stirling’s Summer Festival. We have a number of performances on the line up at this year’s Festival headlined by acclaimed international folk singer, Dougie MacLean and including Stirling’s own Greig Taylor. The evening Sruighlea Sessions at the Creative Arts Festival range from Brina, the voice of World Roots Reggae Music from Jamaica to Scotland’s greatest busker, Matthew Gibb, who performed at Stirling’s Hogmanay event in 2017. Stirling City Radio is committed to making this year’s Creative Arts Festival the best yet.”

A panel of judges will then choose an overall winner who will become the opening act at this year’s Sruighlea Sessions, taking to the stage at 6 pm on festival day.

Event organisers FVSE CIC have successfully secured sponsorship from Stirling City Radio to promote this year’s festival, with match-funding provided via the Culture & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS). Funded by the Scottish Government via Creative Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland and managed by independent charity Arts & Business Scotland, the CBFS programme seeks to encourage closer collaboration between business and the cultural sector by match funding business sponsorship of cultural projects.

Commenting on this year’s event, Director of FVSE Matt McGrandles said:

“FVSE are absolutely delighted to welcome Stirling City Radio on board as our new Stirling Summer Festival Partners for Sruighlea 2019. With match funding provided by the Cultural & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS) programme, we will be able to offer visitors to this year’s festival up to 20 individual performances running throughout the afternoon and into the evening as part of our creative arts festival experience. The support provided by Stirling City Radio and CBFS will help us to market our festival offering to a wider audience across multiple media channels. We look forward to building on the success of last year’s Festival and to making this year even bigger and better.”

The performance schedule for this year’s festival is already packed with a variety of acclaimed and up and coming artists including headliner, acclaimed international folk singer, Dougie MacLean and Stirling’s own, Greig Taylor.

Carl Watt, Head of Programmes at Arts & Business Scotland, commented:

“Arts & Business Scotland is delighted to be able to support the partnership between Sruighlea Festival and Stirling City Radio via match funding from the Culture & Business Fund Scotland. With four months to go, the line-up for this year’s festival already looks really impressive. It’s particularly exciting to see the festival supporting local talent by running a radio competition to win the opportunity to be part of this year’s Sruighlea Sessions. With so much planned across so many different art forms, this year’s Sruighlea Festival is shaping up to be a real cultural highlight of 2019. We’re thrilled that this could not only raise awareness about the opportunities the Fund offers but that other cultural organisations might be inspired to utilise it too.”

Interested artists in the Forth Valley are also being invited to sign up for a daytime slot as part of On the Fringe at Sruighlea, which will include an eclectic mix of performing arts including music, singing, dance, drama, storytelling as well as visual arts. Anyone interested in applying to take part can do so via the Festival website at www.sruighlea.scot/