CELEBRATION plans for the first ever St Kilda Day: Latha Hiort have been unveiled with a host of events due to take place across the country on August 29.
Created by Gaelic Arts Agency Proiseact nan Ealan (PnE), with funding from Homecoming Scotland, it is hoped that St Kilda Day: Latha Hiort will become an annual event.
St Kilda Day: Latha Hiort has arisen from the critically acclaimed St Kilda Op
era, which took place in five European countries simultaneously during Midsummer 2007.
The project had a huge impact and was seen by audiences of over 6,000 across Europe, with a greater number watching live on the web. And now, the Belgian production of the opera is set to be a highlight at the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival.
Malcolm Maclean, Director of PnE, said: "The success of the 2007 Opera has acted as a catalyst to new ideas about St Kilda at a time of grave uncertainty about the Island's future.
"We are delighted the opera is finally coming to Edinburgh and to be working with artists from across Scotland and Europe to tell the story of this very special place and its remarkable people.
"St Kilda Day will increase public awareness of the St Kildan story and build support for a world class, remote-access St Kilda Centre that celebrates the Island's unique spirit-of-place," he added.
St Kilda is the UK's only dual UNESCO world heritage site – for both its cultural and natural landscape – and the Island has been a source of intrigue and fascination, capturing the imagination of people from across the globe for centuries.
August 29, 2009, St Kilda Day, is a hugely significant date in the history of the Island as it was on this date more than 70 years ago that the last remaining inhabitants waved goodbye to their island home.
It is their stories and those of their ancestors which will be brought to life on St Kilda Day, through words, music and moving images involving artists, communities and individuals from across Scotland and further afield.
The day's proceedings will be officially launched at National Trust Scotland's headquarters in Edinburgh on the morning of August 29, with events taking place in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Skye, Argyll, Inverness and Stornoway amongst others.
National Trust Scotland has been a huge supporter of St Kilda Day: Latha Hiort and along with PnE hopes the day raises awareness of their proposals for a St Kilda Centre, which will aim to capture and celebrate the 'spirit of place' and which are being explored with communities in the Outer Hebrides over the summer.
The St Kilda Centre Working Group features representatives from National Trust for Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Visit Scotland and Proiseact nan Ealan, and has recently appointed Jura Consultants, working with Page/Park Architects, to explore the feasibility of developing a remote-access centre to celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of St Kilda.
For further information and a full list of St Kilda Day events, log onto
www.stkilda.eu
