Whilst many across the world are particpating in Black Friday today, we prefer to concentrate on tomorrow (or more specifically the coming weekend) - St Andrew's Fair Saturday, which we've been proud champions of since its arrival in Scotland three years ago.
Fair Saturday is a global cultural movement with a social impact; a day (or this year three days, 28-30 November) dedicated to culture, social causes and the celebration of St Andrew's Day.
This year this feels more important than ever. Unable to create our own live event during lockdown, we've dipped into the archive, to share Homecoming 2: The Return of Mackay's Memoirs, a performance of Martyn Bennett's soul stirring piece, performed by pupils and alumnae of The City of Edinburgh Music School on 4 March 2019, twenty years on from its first performance. You can read more about the piece, the event, and download the programme via the link above. Please donate what you can, all proceeds will go to Help Musicians Scotland. It makes the hairs on our arms stand up every time we hear it, so we hope you enjoy this truly Scottish piece.
234 events are taking place across Scotland this weekend, as well as others across Europe. There are so many to choose from, but our personal highlights would be the Pianodrome Livestream which features many of the artists who've graced our stage over recent years, Shooglenifty, and the brilliant silent film with musical accompaniment we were lucky enough to catch just before lockdown, Filibus: The Mysterious Air Pilate.
Below you can watch a video of last year's celebrations, which included a wonderful evening at QH with Aidan O'Rourke and Friends (some of whom will be playing at the Pianodrome this weekend). You can also follow #WeAreKind on social media for more highlights over the weekend.
Until we can meet again, we hope you enjoy this look back into our archive featuring the brilliant musicians of tomorrow. Do give 15 minutes of your time and whatever you can afford to support Help Musicians Scotland.