Culture@LeithFM

Leith Festival is different to the various festivals that take-over Edinburgh in August, perhaps for the simple fact that Leith is not inflitrated by a festival, but a festival is rooted and created from Leith itself through the work of local artists and performers.  Leith Festival is inclusive and gives a sense of ownership to the people who contribute, volunteer and participate as audience members.  It is descibed by Artistic Director John Paul McGroarty as,  ‘a festival within a community, not a community with a festival’.

This concept of community inclusion seems to be the grounding factor of Leith Festival and can be traced to John Paul who accepted the role of Artistic Director seven years ago.  From 2002, Leith festival has been regenerated and expanded with the help and commitment of various Leithers, including Mary Moriarty who is influencial in the Gala Day celebrations (always the last Saturday in the festival).  In 2008 and 2009 the the vast preparation and daily operation of Leith Festival has been executed by festival manager, Rowan Campbell and her team.  By interviewing all three of these people, it was possible to grasp an understanding of the essence of Leith Festival.

The final Leith Culture show went out on air on June 3rd and it was a full-to-bursting edition yet again.  If you missed it, you can hear the audio pieces that were created for it here!  Featured on the show: I took a step into the world of lawn bowls to learn of its decline and meet committed players; the entrepreneur and passionate Leither, Sir Tom Farmer contributed an interview and memories for ‘Tell Me More’ ; storyteller and childrens’ author, Lari Don stopped by the station to share her enthusiasm for writing and desire to encourage boundless imagination in children.  Lari read from her first book “First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts” for Leith Culture’s performance segment ‘Take The Mic’.  There was also an extra special piece created in honour of Leith Festival and offers an insight into the guiding concept behind the festival.

Thanks for listening to Leith Culture and clicking onto this website, I hope you enjoy the pieces that have been created, let me konw what you thought of them by leaving a message on this website.

Last night Clare returned to Leith Links to meet friend and bowling mentor, Ronnie Brown, in order to gather more sound for June’s show (the Bowling piece has been moved from the May show to June).  What was supposed to be a pleasant evening in the sunshine rolling bowls, turned out to be an unfortunate historical moment.  After 151 years of existence, St. James’ Bowling Club was disbanded.  The reasson for this is simply lack of numbers.  The Club is due to raise 16 players for the league matches, of late they have been struggling to muster 8.  Last night the Club’s money was counted and split evenly between all members who, arrived to learn the fate of the club and swap stories from days when the club was healthier.

Today, I’m off to Powderhall Ladies Club where I shall be playing bowls before speaking to the women there over a cup of tea about their involvement with the game.

Listen to the June show to hear of Clare’s adventures.

Culture@LeithFM is now linked up with the Leith FM website so hopefully some web-wanderers shall meander this way.

The next Leith Culture show is on air (98.8FM) 3rd June 7pm - 8.30pm.   Leith Festival kicks off two days later and so Leith Culture shall be festivally-focused.  A BIG show is planned so please tune in and get yourself excited for this awesome time in Leith.

Many folks play lawn bowls in and around the Leith area.  Last Tuesday (April 23rd), Clare went along to Leith Links where her pal Ronnie Brown introduced her to a couple of folks watching the game.  Clare was able to quickly pick up the jist of the game:

‘get as many of your team’s bowls closest to the jack’ (that’s the small white ball folks).

Pretty simple on the face of it, yet of course, with all games there are tactics and strategies never mind the skill of achieving the shot intended!

Towards the end of my visit Ronnie surrendered his bowls to me (I said bowls) for a couple of ends.  My final bowl of the first end was a scorcher and took the jack.  I had a grin from ear to ear as Ronnie heralds to the Links “you’re a natural, you’re a natural”.  Needless to say, as with many talented sports people, the pressure got to me and subsequent ends were less fruitful.

After such an enjoyable evening I decided to meet another club and find out about their experience with the game.  Through a bizare situation i.e. getting lost and misplacing my bowls guide, Ronnie, I stumbled across Powderhall Ladies playing on Wednesday afternoon (29th April).  I caught the last couple of ends of the ladies’ session before tea.  President, Margaret introduced me to the other ladies who were all extremely friendly and happy to talk with me.  Margaret explained that over the twenty-four years that she has been a member of Powderhall, the popularity of the club has decreased and there is a continuing lack of new members, especially young folk.  Why is this? - write to the webiste with your views and listen in on Wed May 6th 7pm-8.30pm on Leith FM to hear about Clare’s lawn bowling experiences.

Monday morning saw Clare pounding up the royal mile towards ‘The Whiskey Experience’.  It was here that she was transported through the whisky-maiking process (empathising with a droplet of water) on the new barrel ride at the visitor’s centre which is situated a couple of doors down from the Castle. Having been birrelled out of the barrell (now as a slosh of whisky I presumme) Clare experienced a senses tour around Scotland’s breweries.  The highlight of the visit was an individual tasting session where Clare was introduced to the world of whisky appreciation, through the five stages of tasting.  To find out more, listen on Wednesday, 7-8.30pm 98.8FM!

Recently, I fell into the back-stage area of the web world with the aim of creating a space on ‘tinter-net’ for all Leith Culture fans.  Wish me luck, as now I must dive deeper into the, as yet unwritten, cyber-land of Culture@Leith FM and make it multi-layered and intimately connected.

Remember we are LIVE on-air on Wed May 6th 7pm-8.30pm  98.8FM or ‘ONLINE’ www.leithfm.co.uk

Ciao for now!