An Lanntair has lots of fun and exciting activities for anybody and everybody to get involved with this summer – from Great Yellow Bumblebees and Garden Tea Parties to workshops in sound systems, theatre, music… all this plus Alpacas!
Inspired by the Outer Hebrides Wildlife Festival, An Lanntair is celebrating the Great Yellow Bumblebee and other diverse species found in our islands. Taking place throughout July and August, the arts charity’s Great Yellow Bumblebee Workshops give children aged five to 12 years the opportunity to learn about these amazing wee creatures – some of the rarest British Bumblebees – through fun music, games, and art activities. The workshops will take place in several Lewis & Harris venues over the next two months, check out www.lanntair.com to find one near you!
An Lanntair’s Youth Theatre Summer School returns again this year, taking place from Monday 18 to Saturday 23 July, at Lews Castle College. Budding thespians aged 10-18 years old can learn about all aspects of theatre and work alongside industry professionals to devise an entirely new piece of drama for performance at An Lanntair at the end of the week.
Clàr – An Lanntair’s music, art, and film production group for those aged 14-25 years – is set to present two special workshops this summer. Grinneabhat, in Bragar, will host the exciting two-day Clàr Kinetic Sculpture workshop, which uses scrap parts sourced locally to build a moving artwork, animated by electric motors, lighting and sound. And the Clàr Sound System workshop celebrates the DIY sound-system culture, giving the opportunity to get hands-on with music production equipment and learn from guest DJs and speakers!
Welcoming the much anticipated return of the Hebridean Celtic Festival and celebrating its 25th anniversary, the An Lanntair team have partnered up with HebCelt to provide five festival workshops from Thursday 14 to Saturday 16 July, offering: Rhythm Workshop with Signy Jakobsdottir; Sutherland Accordion Tunes with Megan MacDonald; Lewis Tunes for Chanter, Pipes and Small Pipes with James Duncan Mackenzie; The Melbost Bard Gaelic Song Workshop with Calum Alex Macmillan, and Bringing Fiddle Tunes to Life with Ryan Young.
And do remember to pop in and see our Art Workers team in the An Lanntair Art Tent in the festival arena on Lews Castle Green, where there is fun for all ages to relax, take time out, entertain young ones, and paint your very own Lews Chessman!
An Lanntair Arts Workers are back out to Lews Castle Grounds in August, with Patrick – an activity trail where island primary children can join the procession based on Quentin Blake’s classic story about Patrick and his violin, and all the extraordinary things that happen when he plays it – fish begin to fly, birds change colour, cows dance, and trees grow cake and toast!
And finally what kind of summer would be complete without a storytelling competition where you can meet some alpacas? As part of Scotland’s Year of Stories An Lanntair and author of the ‘The Brilliant & Forever’ novel Kevin MacNeil have teamed up to prove that everyone has stories to tell.
MacNeil’s novel follows the adventures of a group of writers who compete in a festival that is like a cross between a traditional book festival, The X Factor, and a music festival. The exuberant mix that is, The Brilliant & Forever Literary Competition, is coming to Lews Castle Green in Stornoway on August 6! Don’t forget – deadline for submissions is Saturday 9 July, submission forms are available for download on our website.
“Come for the T-shirt,” commented a spokes-alpaca, “stay for the lit fest.”
For more information on any of these events or to book tickets, please visit our website at www.lanntair.com.