Day Tickets Launched – buy them now online!
Due to the high volume of people enquiring about our Day Tickets, we’ve decided to launch them a couple of weeks early. You can now buy tickets for our Friday and Saturday night gigs or spend a whole day with us on either Saturday or Sunday by visiting our online box office. Buy them now to make great savings on our gate-prices. As with weekend tickets, young people aged 12-17 are heavily subsidised and children aged 11 and under come absolutely free!
News from our partner – Christian Aid
It’s Christian Aid week, so we’ve handed over our blog to their Glasgow team to tell us about the great work they’re doing this week as part of their worldwide campaign to eradicate poverty and its causes. You can find out more about Christian Aid week and make a donation here and then head on over to our blog for more information, including news of what they’re planning for Solas 2011. They’ve got cake, ice cream and mocktails on the menu…
The Talks Programme
Solas Talks are there to inform, provoke, disturb and delight you – ranging over topics we hope will interest and engage everyone. Read on for highlights, and get more detailed info on our blog.
Gerry Hassan has been described as Scotland’s leading public intellectual. A well known and respected political commentator and journalist, he will be reflecting on where Scotland stands after the historic SNP victory and on what kind of politics reaches the forgotten areas of Scottish life. Other political guests TBC (they’ve been a bit busy of late).
Top policy and campaigning figures from Christian Aid – Kathy Galloway, David McNair and Sol Oyuela will raise taxes as a political issue and shed more light than heat on climate change. Helping us get poverty over.
Other contributions include Pete Ward (on celebrity culture); Prof. Alison Phipps (on peace-making and structural violence); Sr. Karen D’Artois (on spirituality); Jenny Baker (on gender and sexuality); Alison Urie (on the concept of Home), Graeme Maule (an artist’s take on The Long Light); Steve Stockman (poet, preacher, blogger and music lover); Fr. Willie Slavin (priest, socialist, campaigner); session on the music of lamenting and much much more.
Our Programme for Young People
We believe that young people should be at the heart of what we do, so we’ll be offering a fully integrated programme designed to be engaging and relevant for 11-16s. Cutting-edge young bands performing on our mainstage include Stanley Odd, The Starlets, We See Lights, Aerials Up, Open Swimmer, RURA and Silver Caves. We will also be offering a range of workshops including fun activities, creative projects and opportunities to explore hot topics – graffiti boards; environmental art; film-making; a workshop on protesting; forum theatre; fusion ceilidh; street-dance; rugby drop-in; circus skills; and a dawn hike up to the top of Tinto Hill.
Tickets for young people are heavily subsidised and even small youth groups can take advantage of our free tickets for leaders.
2011 Volunteer Appeal
We still need volunteers in all sorts of interesting roles – help us out and get your ticket seriously cheap or even free!
Solas Festival volunteers pay only £35 for the weekend; there’s no cost for camping and there’s lots of time off to enjoy the festival. Free tickets are available for stewards who work an average of 6 hours per day, in a few short shifts. Some volunteer positions will require specialist skills and experience, but most will just need lots of enthusiasm, reliability and a willingness to work alongside others. In return, we’re offering support, appropriate training, a reference if you want it, new friends and at least one unforgettable weekend. Find out more and download the short application form here.
And finally… Curious Joe gets curious about Solas
Check out Curious Joe – ‘a blog of art, culture and unnecessary but fun-to-write commentary’ – for a wee write-up on Solas and a short interview with our Festival Coordinator.