I was having a moan today about music festivals in Scotland; with the exception of Girvan, they can be challenging places to have good tunes, as they always seem short of venues for sessions and overrun with people who want to have a singalong or who want to just get paneled and don’t give a toss about the music. The tune sessions you get are usually huge and unwieldy, as all the tune players are forced into one place as there’s nowhere else for them to go.
Seeing the posts in here about the Northeast Tionol reminded me of when I lived in the US and attended this Tionol for about two or three years running. The format was fantastic, everyone staying in the same place, a wee hotel with a bar, and you had classes and workshops, but the craic was epic enough that musicians from all over, even as far as the Midwest and West Coast, would show up, even if they weren’t in the classes, and the sessions could be fantastic. Because you were all in the same hotel, the camaraderie and cohesiveness that developed surpassed what I’ve seen at the festivals I’ve gone to in the UK and Ireland. Sure, there are tionols (tionoli?) in the UK (sadly not Scotland) but they are just directed towards pipes and from what I can see, are just one or two day affairs mainly oriented towards piping-related workshops rather than just hanging about having banter and a few tunes. People who play other instruments and would just be up for the craic are unlikely to appear at those.
It would be great to have something like here – take over a place like the Clachaig Inn at Glencoe (well, that’s just my thing for the Highlands but if it’s in a pretty place rather than a hole, maybe people can be convinced to go).
Isn’t there an uillean pipe festival in April or May in Granton on Spey in the highlands each year? Seems to me, they had other instruments too. Too bad it wasn’t going on while I lived there!
here is your chance to get it started…this will be my first N E tionol, and I can’t wait. I can tell that the organizers put lots of hard work into it, but I bet if you found a handful of pipers to offer you time, you could get one going just like it there…where ever 2 or more are gathered…good luck…cheers.
Thanks for the shoutout, SilverSpear! If you keep it small the first couple of years, and have a nice venue and some non-piping folks willing to show up for sessions, it’s not that hard to organize something. Go for it!
The last “Tionol” in Scotland attracted 5 pipers and as the Glasgow Piping Club is currently inactive, it is unlikely that there will be any more arranged.
I don’t know if Boyd is arranging anything in next year’s Strathspey in May, you would have to ask him.
How does the East Coast Tionol get funding? Presumably you need it to pay for teachers, venues and the like in the event attendance isn’t high enough to make the cost.
Focusing on pipes alone doesn’t seem to work in Scotland, as most pipers around seem happy doing their own thing and aren’t interested in the whole Tionol deal, which is why I feel there would need to be more focus on and space for sessions, like at a festival, which would attract other musicians. That would probably draw more pipers out of the woodwork as well, as I know a few who will appear at festivals for a tune and the general craic but probably wouldn’t be bothered going to something that consisted of people sitting around just talking about pipes and reeds. There are plenty of musicians around who just want to play tunes and who wax lyrical about how the folk festivals used to be much better, because there were more pubs with wee hidey holes for sessions.
sometimes, fundraising concerts that take place ahead of the event
registration fees (higher for those who register late, lower for those who assist the planning process by registering early)
tionól concert tickets (concerts are open to the public, so the larger and/or the more Irish-music friendly the place in which you site the tionól, the more public attendance, and thus more revenue, you might get)
occasionally, ads in the concert program from local “Irish shops”
monetary donations (thanks, everybody!!! we love you!)
t-shirt sales (can be great or, if you overestimate and order too many and are stuck with them, horrible)
last year for the first time, a raffle of donated items such as reeds, tunebooks, DVDs, piping-related art, etc.
Having everything under one roof at the resort also makes it more financially viable. We do pay for some of the classrooms (which are emptied guest rooms that we pay the resort to use), but typically enrollment helps cover most of that cost. We don’t have to rent a separate hall for the concert or pay extra for session locations; we use the pub for the concert and classroom spaces around the resort for sessions. One board member brings sound equipment and runs the sound for the concert. Another board member donates his artistic talents to design the t-shirt, the posters.
Some years it is really a skin-of-the-teeth operation! It helps a lot to invite a well-known instructor whom people will travel to see. If you aim to come out a little ahead (by, say, 100 or 200 or 500) each year, you can gradually build up a bit of an egg from which to do things like pay deposits to reserve locations, or cover travel expenses for next year’s instructor.
We started having fiddle workshops (in addition to piping classes) a few years back in order to increase the variety of instruments at the sessions. It has worked very well. I think having it all under one roof, as you point out, also really increases the cameraderie and thus draws other musicians.
Culture Ireland offers grants to help fund this sort of thing; they take applications every quarter. We’ve gotten grants from them in the past. I’ve also been to a local concert (by a pair of traveling musicians over from Ireland) that they helped sponsor. Take a look at their website.
We’ve been at this for a long time, so we have a reputation built up, which helps with draw. I’m sure it’s a bit different starting from scratch, but it can be done. You might contact Pat Darcy, who helped start a pipers’ club and a tionól from scratch in Southern California about twelve years ago. He’s on here occasionally, and he’s sure to have some helpful tips. Or Tom Klein (tommykleen here on the board), who started up a tionól in Minnesota a few years back. Or Kathleen Dugan-Cavanaugh, who just hosted a successful event in Florida. Closer to where you are, try the folks at the Manchester pipers club.
Our tionól appears to follow similar lines. We have a meet and greet session on a Friday night , lessons on the Saturday followed by a concert and a session afterwards. Everyone stays in one or two local bed and breakfasts and it’s pretty much the same people attending from the first tionól to the present date. From my experience UK tionóls don’t seem to be as well supported compared to other tionóls in different countries , seemingly pipers happy to play and learn on their own. Mind you there are now so many resources for learning such as the internet , dvds that the need for a tionól may not be as great now as it was in the past.
This is the closing session at the very succesful Glasgow Tional , the friendly banter betwixt the joyous revellers and polis is evident.The piper on the ground is legless (or will be in the morning)The dugs in Glasgow are allowed tae keep the limbs as treats,such is the bon homie o the place.In many ways its a bit like ancient Roma..if ye hit a bum note whilst playing ye get the thumbs doon frae the audience and then ye are dragged frae the bar by the dugs…its nice tae keep the auld traditions alive…
So guid luck Emily wi yoor Tional…
and as the Glasgow Piping Club is currently inactive, it is unlikely that there will be any more arranged.
