A vintage year for the Festival

THE 2012 Festival of Spirituality and Peace has been described as a “resounding success” by audiences, participants, sponsors - and by the Scottish Government's cabinet secretary for justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, speaking at the official closing event, held at St John’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh at the beginning of the week.

Media Coordinator Simon Barrow, who is also co-director of the beliefs and values thinktank Ekklesia, said that it had been "a vintage year" for the Festival, when other Edinburgh events have suffered as a result of competing attractions like the Olympics and the dampening impact of the recession.

Among the many highlights of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace this year have been acclaimed South African a capella group Soweto Entsha; the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Hertzogovina talking about the Bosnian war 20 years on; a ‘Scottish Six’ series on the past, present and future of Scotland (featuring broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and author Andy Wightman), and ‘Poetry in the Persian Tent’ (which has included headliners Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay and Marie Howe).

More here. 

Evening News coverage...

A sound connection

WHERE would we have been without Alex and Wessy?  Without decent sound and dedicated, patient, persistent stage management, that's where.

With several hundred performances across 24 days, the amount of work, adjustment, plugging, unplugging, refitting, wiring, checking, testing and adapting (plus all the complicated technical stuff that goes way over our heads) seems an endless task. 

But it all has to be done. And it makes a huge difference, as you can hear with your own ears.

Here at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace we've been served well by a fantastic team.

They've all been sound. But some of them know what that means more than most!

Festival of Spirituality and Peace: definitely a hit

SCOTTISH cabinet secretary for justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, has described the 2012 Festival of Spirituality and Peace as a “resounding success”.

He was speaking at the official closing event for the Festival, held at St John’s Episcopal Church in Edinburgh last night (Sunday 26 August).

Mr MacAskill praised the way the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, which is backed by the Scottish Government along with a range of civic, faith and educational groups, brings together people from a wide variety of backgrounds to look at cultural and political issues from a fresh angle. It offers both a Scottish and a global outlook.

Life is about “more than money and material wellbeing”, Mr MacAskill affirmed, and the Festival of Spirituality and Peace – which has featured 400 events across 21 venues this year – is an important example of how to develop a broader perspective.

Among the many highlights of the Festival this year have been acclaimed South African a capella group Soweto Entsha; the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Hertzogovina talking about the Bosnian war 20 years on; a ‘Scottish Six’ series on the past, present and future of Scotland (featuring broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and author Andy Wightman), and ‘Poetry in the Persian Tent’ (which has included headliners Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay and Marie Howe).

Also present for the evening was Edinburgh City councillor, Melanie Main, who helped present the second Edinburgh Peace Award to former Dalry Primary School head teacher, David Fleming, for his outstanding contribution to community relations.

Kenny MacAskill MSP and Councillor Melanie Main stayed for the reception after the celebrations in the Church in order to greet the large number of people who have made the Festival of Spirituality and Peace 2012 possible, including chair Raymond Baudon, former director and founder the Rev Donald Reid, and newly announced director Katherine Newbigging.

The Festival of Spirituality and Peace is sponsored and supported by the Church of Scotland, Christian Aid, Edinburgh City Centre Churches, Edinburgh City Council, Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association, Ekklesia think-tank, the Iona Community, the Scottish Government, St John’s Episcopal Church Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh.

From AllMediaScotland

Poetic licenses well on display

THE first of a series entitled 'Poetry in the Persian Tent' has been taking place at St John's Church (Venue 127) as part of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace this morning.

More than 30 people braved a last-minute shower and threatening skies to listen to national poet Liz Lochhead, along with John Glenday, Stephanie Green and Ryan Van Winkle.

John Sampson's pipe music interludes provided an evocative counterpoint to the readings. Spirituality & Peace news has been live-tweeting via @simonbarrow.

We've been waiting for Liz and John G with great anticipation. The makar reads several poems, including one of her earliest ones, 'Revelation'.

Altogether a fabulous occasion, raising money for a farm project in Africa in association with Oxfam. Make sure you don't miss the next four performances, all at 11am at St John's.

Tweetcasting the Scottish Six

THE advent of new media has produced all kinds of different ways to communicate. Yesterday and tonight, a good friend of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace is tweeting tasty snippets from the best-selling 'Scottish Six' sessions.

'Scottish Six', which runs until the end of the week at 6pm in the Hall at St John's Church (venue 127), appropriately enough, features broadcaster and commentator Lesley Riddoch and author and land campaigner Andy Wightman.

They are presenting an alternative look at power, culture, identity and futures issues in Scotland -- a fine mixture of image, fact, story and discussion.

Elsewhere in the Edinburgh festivals, and on the media around them, these issues about Scotland yesterday, today and tomorrow are largely absent. FoSP is delighted to host a different perspective.

Meanwhile, our 'tweetcaster' for two of these nights has been Dr Michael Marten, who teaches postcolonial studies and religion at the University of Stirling. He is also a leading light in the Critical Religion project. You can follow him on Twitter at @MichaelMarten

Still time to go twoppy over our Festival!

FOR the first time the Festival of Spirituality and Peace has its own dedicated mobile phone app... enabling people to track events and performers instantly online.

The Festival's Twoppy application can be downloaded in a few seconds on most data phones by going to http://m.twoppy.com/FoSP/

The app tells you about each event and its venue and enables you to build a personal itinerary for the Festival... all on your phone.  

Get connected today!

Keep right up to date with the Festival!

DON'T forget: you can access Spirituality & Peace News here online, but also through our mobile version - along with the special FoSP Twoppy application.

A classic contributor

AMONG the interns helping out with media work for the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, we are delighted and grateful to have Katie MacFadyen working with us. 

So far she’s enabled us to get our Facebook and Twoppy (mobile app) events features up to speed – so that you can get the latest information on the Festival while checking in with your friends or making a call.

Katie is also writing extensively for us on Spirituality & Peace News, profiling upcoming attractions and reporting or commenting on what’s going on.

When not working with FoSP, Katie is a fourth year student of Classics at the University of Edinburgh, about to start a dissertation in Reception Studies: the study of how classics is and has been used in subsequent cultural contexts.

A fine crafter of words, she also writes speculative fiction and theatre, as well as film and book reviews. Her theatre reviews from the Fringe Festival 2011 can be found on thenewkid.co.uk and her general reviews can be found on her blog, somesuchlike.wordpress.com.

Take a real break with FoSP

THE Festival's first Scotsman advert, one of four, appeared this weekend... attracting people looking for holidays!

With weekend breaks proving popular for people who want to get away but have to keep an eye on the pounds, the paper's offers are proving a good draw.

Meanwhile, those who are going to be in Edinburgh in August (the biggest draw of all!) now know about one of the capital city's most innovative and dynamic Festivals.

Featured events include the fabulous Soweto Entsha, Charles Handy on alternative ways of thinking about work, Poetry at the Persian Tent, Last Tango in Edinburgh, and women in Afghanistan's conflict.

You can view the whole programme online here.