Our 27th International Folk Dance Festival will run from July 17th - 20th 2025
(Note that all this is preliminary information, and likely to change! Visit this page again later...)
The Public Performances:
We will perform at the venues listed below:
Thursday 17th July: EDINBURGH, Gala Opening Performance, Mary Erskine School
Friday 18th July: EDINBURGH, Scottish Parliament
Saturday 19th July: EDINBURGH, St Andrews Square
Sunday 20th July: STIRLING CASTLE Queen Anne Gardens
General Information
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The Edinburgh University New Scotland Country Dance Society (EUNSCDS or New Scotland to its friends)
was formed in 1947 by students at the University of Edinburgh as the New Scotland Society
to promote the revived interest in the culture of Scotland. It soon became clear that what most members were interested in was the dancing, so in 1951 it was renamed the New Scotland Country Dance Society. Its fortunes and numbers have waxed and waned over the years, but it has remained an active group ever since and many partnerships and life-long friendships have been formed there (plenty of whom you can meet among the Dunedin members at the Festival). The emphasis has always been on Scottish dancing, particularly Scottish Country and Highland dancing, and the members frequently perform in and around Edinburgh and travel to competitions across the country. Not just in Scotland, either - within the first decade, New Scotland members were travelling to perform abroad, and this tradition, which spurred the formation of Dunedin Dancers, has continued to this day. Several members joined Dunedin last year on the trip to Schwalenberg. | |
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Dunedin Dancers was formed by members of New Scotland in 1970 who wanted to return the favour to
groups they had visited at Folk Festivals around Europe. The first Dunedin Festival was held in 1971, and it has been held every two years since (with the exception of 2021 which was cancelled by Covid), hosting two to three visiting groups each time. 2023 is the 26th Dunedin Folk Dance Festival. There is more to Dunedin than the Festival, though. Members enjoy all forms of Scottish dancing - predominantly Scottish Country dancing, but also Ceilidh dancing, Highland and Scottish Step. We get together to dance socially every Wednesday evening, to a mixture of live music and CDs, and we run several social dances through the year as well as the Dunedin Assembly - our annual formal ball. While many members are only interested in dancing socially - and Scottish Country dancing is primarily a social dance form - there are also a core who like to perform to a greater or lesser extent, as you will see, and we number talented musicians in our ranks, who this year are led by member Angharad Kenway. We also still travel to Festivals abroad - our most recent trip was last year to the Trachtenfest at Schwalenberg in Germany, and we make a return trip to Hoogstraten at the end of July. | |
Our guests in 2025: | |
| Les Pierrots de la Vallee (Normandy, France) Created in 1987 in Garennes Sur Eure, a small village located on the border of Yvelines and Eure et Loir, the Folkloric group "Les Pierrots de la Vallée" aims to keep Norman popular traditions alive. Due to its proximity to the capital, the Eure Valley was influenced by Parisian fashion from an early age. "Les Pierrots de la Vallée" is the only group in Normandy to wear the "déshabillé" (women's cotton costume). The headdress called "Pierrot" gave the group its name. As for the men, they wear frock coats and top hats. Made up of a majority of young people, the dances practiced throughout Normandy take on a lively rhythm which makes them more cheerful and more enjoyable for both the dancers and the spectators. Apart from sewing for the maintenance and reshaping of the 7 costumes, the group makes a point of passing on the learning of bobbin lace, the jewel of the town of Bayeux. The primary goal of the association being to make its folklore known as widely as possible, what could be better than exchanges? This is how the Garennes Sur Eure International Folklore Festival was born in 1991 and has been held every two years ever since. Dunedin Dancers attended this festival in July 2024! |
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| Csata Táncegyüttes (Isaszeg, near Budapest, Hungary) The dance group was formed in 2006 by the parents of children dancing in the Csata Dance Ensemble under the name Csatangoló Dance Group - and has developed dynamically in recent years, both in terms of its number and activities, and is now the cultural center of Isaszeg. Our main goal is to keep the traditions of Isaszeg alive, to make them known, and to popularize them. In addition to continuous learning dances, presenting the acquired dance materials, and participating in events, in the summer we also organize a traditional, folk dance and craft camp for preschool and primary school children; we organize ethnographic performances; and at cultural events in Isaszeg we set up a craft and folk play tent, thereby strengthening the programs of other civil organizations in Isaszeg. |
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Thanks for Funding!
| Dunedin Dancers is an amateur group financed mainly through money raised from our own membership,
from the income of our demonstration dancing, and a few donations from well wishers. | ||
 | This year we have been fortunate to secure a small grant from Tasgadh (Small grants for Traditional Arts), a fund devolved from Creative Scotland and managed by Fèisean nan Gàidheal. | |
| We would be very grateful if you would support or continue to support our festival by making a donation online using a credit or debit card via PayPal. | ||