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MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2024 - Vote Now!


1 Oct 24
by Nathon Jones

Scots Trad Music Awards 2024

This year, 10 years since the very first Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival, we need your support more than ever. Despite continued funding cuts the event was still glorious, and the music absolutely mighty. Vote now to help save this vital traditional music festival!

Finalists at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in the Best Event category in 2022 - a huge achievement for this little festival in the Southwest - we now desperately need your support to demonstrate just how important it is to support traditional music, dance and language projects in this part of Scotland; a region that is so often over-looked.

Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival was grateful to receive an award of £4,000 in 2024 from Dumfries & Galloway Council's Major Events Fund; acknowledgement that the event plays an important part in improving the economy of the region as well as demonstrating support for the important cultural role the festival plays in the local community and wider Scottish community.

Traditional music is on the brink in the Southwest.  With funding continuing to go to the same projects year after year with no apparent exit strategy or demonstrable plan for self-sustainability, in some cases after 20+ years of operating, smaller organisations and events, such as ours, are left with little alternative but to self-fund their events and find other ways to demonstrate their success.

What better way to do that than to ask you - our audiences, performing artists, crew and the local community - what you felt about the event and how passionately you feel about the continuation of this incredible wee festival in Dumfries & Galloway?

We did it in 2022 and, with your help again, maybe we can go one step further?

To vote, simply click the link below and follow the instructions.  You do not need to vote in every category, so please skip through if there are categories you're not sure about, but please consider Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival and Autumn Trad Festival for 'Event of the Year', and how about The Vault Arts Centre for 'Community Project of the Year' or 'Venue of the Year', or Claire Mann for 'Music Tutor of the Year'?

Thank you all for your incredible support.

Click Here to Vote

In Other News


MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2024 - Vote Now!

This year, 10 years since the very first Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival, we need your support more than ever. Despite continued funding cuts the event was still glorious, and the music absolutely mighty. Vote now to help save this vital traditional music festival!  

1 Oct 24
Nathon Jones

Outstanding sponsorship support from Five Kingdoms Brewery

Serving local produce ensures that the project supports local businesses and the local community. A huge favourite are the beers from Five Kingdoms Brewery which are brewed in Isle of Whithorn. We are hugely grateful to Alastair and his team for their very generous support for this year's festival.  

12 Jul 24
Nathon Jones

Workshops at this year's festival

With so many outstanding musicians in Newton Stewart this weekend it would be foolish not to take full advantage, and we've done just that with a superb programme of traditional music workshops which are included as part of the Weekend Pass ticket, £10 per adult or £Free for under 25s.  

11 Jul 24
Nathon Jones

Trad Music Trust

Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary over 11th-13th July 2025. It's an incredible achievement. The charity has created a viable, sustainable, event that continues to grow and develop, proudly celebrating the very best in traditional Scottish, Irish and World music. Make sure you book early for what is shaping up to be the biggest event yet!

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Commercial Sponsors:
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Funded by:
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