"Even the withdrawal of public funding can't stop music and tourism from flourishing together on the Island" says local musician Terry Stevens.
Back in 1999 Arran formed part of a pilot scheme entitled "The Scottish Arts Council and VisitScotland Traditional Music and Tourism Initiative." The results of the three year scheme were researched and compiled by Rob Stokes of Rockville Communications, an independent Company, and produced some very interesting conclusions. To quote the then Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mike Watson MSP, "The initiative has confirmed what pioneering work suggested and has begun to map one of several routes for tourism based on cultural activity that I feel sure many others will want to follow." To quote further from the report, with specific reference to Arran, Donal Boyle, Arran Co-ordinator said - "This fantastic investment of relatively little money has produced many tangible benefits and myriad spin-offs which have greatly improved the quality of the Arran experience for many, many people." As stated in the report "A total of 2,486 people were entertained at events all over the Island and questionnaires from these sessions were analysed and venues averaged nearly 39% increase in bar takings on these nights and the project succeeded in a key aim of distributing trade more evenly around the Island. While many visitors stay in remoter parts, they frequently have to travel to main centres for entertainment. Local performances allow visitors to meet and mix with locals, who are often a significant proportion of the audience". In conclusion, the report states - "Traditional music and tourism are natural bedfellows"
It was very sad, therefore, that the following year, despite monies being available from the Scottish Arts Council, they could only be released if matched by a similar sum from VisitScotland, which, unfortunately, wasn't forthcoming so it looked as if a well proven scheme was dead in the water. Seeing the potential and benefits all round a few like minded musicians and venue owners got together and, on a much reduced budget, decided to carry on the idea of live music sessions. To date, momentum has increased and the Live Music Sessions are now an integral part of the Summer Season on Arran. During last year, monies were raised from, not only the participating venues, but other concerns such as the Brewery, the Distillery and the Folk Festival to cover the costs of advertising and to pay musicians to seed the sessions. Visitor's books were passed around these sessions to gauge people's reactions and to compile their views. Apart from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and all parts of England, we had folk from Sweden, Australia, U.S.A., Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, France and Holland. There were a lot of general comments like "..good variety of music.." - "..great atmosphere.." - "..good beer and whisky, good food, friendly staff.." as well as "..a welcome addition to our holiday.." - "..made our holiday complete.." - "..rounded off our holiday brilliantly.." - so glad we came, will come again.." - "..will return to Arran.." - " Bueno! Bueno! …" "..a different cultural experience for us.." - "..best spot on the Clyde.." - ".. lovely to hear live music that visitors can contribute to.." - "..great night and thanks for letting me join in.." - "..relaxed, friendly night with great music, good value for no money! …" plus many, many more.
The participant musicians have grown in number as the sessions have become more popular and we've got together and formed the Arran Folk Club - www.arranfolkclub.co.uk - simply to have a central point of contact and to make sure that the sessions run smoothly. Our aim is "to promote live music and musicians of all ages and abilities" and to this end would love to hear from anyone who would be interested in coming to the sessions - the more participating musicians we have the more sessions we can run. We also intend to carry on taking the sessions all over the Island and if any venues would be interested in having sessions, we'd like to hear from them too.
Several colleagues and myself have been contacted by Hotels and Guest Houses as well as regular Arran visitors asking about the Folk Festival so as to book their holidays. As recently reported in the Banner, the Arran Folk Festival has unfortunately gone the way of other small to medium sized events and will not be run this year. We're not alone, as throughout the U.K, Festivals have had to find large corporate sponsors, large venues and expensive "big names" and go very big or drop down to Sessions or, sadly, fold altogether. The Arran Folk Club intend to advertise a week of sessions from 7th. to 13th. of June at various venues around the Island to start the main season followed by weekly sessions throughout the Summer.