‘Radical’ Burns Supper -  December 8

‘Like you’ve Never Seen One Before’

Following the huge success of last years Radical Burns Supper, the Edinburgh People’s Festival proudly presents our 2009 Burns supper like you’ve never seen one before. Celebrating the life and work of Scotland’s own poetic genius and radical and in a entirely different way from the traditional stuffy Burns suppers. With:

JOHN McALLION introducing Robert Burns, the people’s poet, the political radical, the abolitionist, republican, revolutionary, writer, poet and activist.

Robert Burns is a writer loved the world over, a supporter of greater political freedoms for people the world over.

VLADIMIR McTAVISH, Scotland’s finest political comedian gives his own hilarious take on the bard – where Robert Burns meets Irvine Welsh.

Music from DAVID FERRARD, WILLIAM YOUNG and other surprise special guests.

Great Grog Wine Bar, Rose Street, Edinburgh – Sat 24th January 2009 at 7.30pm.

Tickets £10 and £7 [concessions]

Price includes traditional haggis dinner [vegetarian haggis option also available]

Don’t miss this unique celebration of the people’s poet!

Outstanding Burns night guaranteed, outstanding entertainment and outstanding value – so don’t be left out standing in the street. Space is limited so book your ticket now to avoid disappointment.

Tickets can be ordered via Edinburgh People’s Festival, ‘Out of the Blue’ Arts Centre, 29 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh EH6 8RG

EPF 2008 AGM Report – December 2008

EPF’s ‘Most Successful Year’

People’s Festival Chairman, Colin Fox, told this year’s AGM that 2008 had been ‘without doubt the organisation’s most successful year’.

Having achieved charitable status, the Edinburgh People’s Festival began the year by celebrating the life and works of Robert Burns.

In a tribute to Scotland’s national poet which not only outlined his radical credentials but in a form which was itself a radical departure from the traditional Burns suppers, author Patrick Scott Hogg outlined the anti establishment political credentials of this ‘heaven sent ploughman’.

Later in the year the People’s Festival joined forces with Edinburgh’s May Day Committee to present the annual march and rally through the city.

The speakers from home and abroad reflected the international character of the event: with Ms Aida Avella from Colombia, Ms Pat Arrowsmith from CND and Seamus Milne the campaigning journalist on the Guardian.

In August the most ambitious People’s Festival programme yet, presented 30 shows in 10 locations throughout the city. The centrepiece of the week was the award winning exhibition telling the story of the People’s Festival from 1951 to the present. The exhibition has subsequently been on display at Edinburgh’s Radical Book Fair and is set for a tour of Fife in the New Year. The week also featured a groundbreaking arts competition, the inaugural Hamish Henderson Annual lecture, a comedy night, theatre, ceilidh, debate, music (inside Saughton jail), photography exhibition and a Rebus literary tour.

Plans for 2009 include another Burns supper marking the 250th anniversary of his birth (details to follow soon) and events throughout the year to mark the 20th anniversary of the great Poll Tax rebellion.

Keep checking this website for details.

The following officer bearers were elected at the 2008 AGM:

Chairman – Colin Fox

Vice Chair – Jim Slaven

Secretary – Johanna Dind

Treasurer – Barry Fowler

EPF 2008 AGM – November 24

People’s Festival Annual General Meeting

The 2008 AGM will take place on Monday 24th of November, from 6.30 to 8.30pm in room GP2 of the Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicholson Street Edinburgh.

Agenda:

- election of office bearers

- financial report

- organisation of future events

Radical Book Fair – October 8

‘People’s Festival Story Centrepiece’

The People’s Festival’s award winning exhibition – The Story of the Edinburgh People’s Festival – will make up the centrepiece of this years Edinburgh Radical Book Fair, at the ‘Out of the Blue’ Arts Centre, Dalmeny St from 29th October to 2nd November.

Download Summary Programme
PDF File – 36Kb

Download Full Programme
PDF File – 1.2Mb

EPF 2008 Highlights – September 2008

‘In Sound & Vision’

The Story Of The People’s Festival

Opening Night Cabaret – Coming Soon

Art Competition – Coming Soon

The Folk In Saughton – Coming Soon

Theatre – A Cup Of Jamie T – Coming Soon

The Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture – Coming Soon

Debate – Coming Soon

Comedy Night – Coming Soon

Ceilidh – Coming Soon

Did You Hear The One About The Scotsman, Englishman, Welshman And Irishman Who Appeared In Gorgie? – August 14

‘Five Top Calibre Stand Ups’

Wilson Dixon / Jason Cook / Mick Sergeant / Kevin Gildea / Teddy Bares

Scotland’s only year round seven day a week comedy club and its comedians are proud to support the Edinburgh People’s Festival, the festival for the people and by the people of the City.

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EPF Presents The First

Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture – August 12

‘A Working Class Intellectual’

The Edinburgh People’s Festival presents the first annual Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture tomorrow night [Wed 13th August] at the ‘Out of the Blue’ Arts Centre, Dalmeny Street, Leith.

The lecture, delivered by Hamish Henderson’s biographer Mr Timothy Neat, marks the midpoint in this years Edinburgh People’s Festival programme of events.

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‘Vladimir McTavish’ To Headline ‘Diverse’ People’s Festival Cabaret Night – August 7

‘Celebrate The Rich Diversity’

The Scots comedian Paul Sneddon, aka ‘Vladimir McTavish’, will headline the Edinburgh People’s Festival’s opening cabaret night this Saturday [9th Aug] at the Gaff Theatre in Craigmillar.

The event aims to celebrate the rich diversity and multicultural talent found throughout Edinburgh.

Download Full Press Release
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Be Cool In the People’s T-Shirt EPF 2008 Logo By Frank Boyle – August 3

Downloads
*Edinburgh People’s Festival Poster August 2008
*Opening Cabaret Night e-flyer
*Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture e-flyer
*Art Debate e-flyer

Trevor Griffiths Radio Play ‘These Are The Times’ – July 24

‘These Are The Times’

Trevor Griffiths who appeared at The Edinburgh People’s Festival last year, has his newest play – A Life of Thomas Paine – performed on Radio 4 this weekend.

Thomas Paine is best known for his seminal work – ‘The Rights Of Man’

People’s Festival Programme – July 2

‘Reaches The Parts Others Ignore’

The Edinburgh People’s Festival today published its August 2008 programme of events.

In previous years the People’s Festival presented David Sneddon to the Jack Kane Centre in Craigmillar weeks before he went on to win the BBC’s Fame Academy talent show, took Hollywood actress Nancy Cartwright to the city’s Royal Infirmary in ‘Bart Goes

to the Simpson’s’, smuggled TV comedian Mark Thomas and Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six, INTO Saughton prison and showcased the legendary talents of Oscar nominated playwright Trevor Griffiths at The Stand.

The centrepiece of this years programme is an award winning retrospective exhibition telling the story of the People’s Festival for the very first time, from its birth in the 1950’s, to its rebirth in 2002 and including its development to date. The exhibition takes place in the ARTSPACE in Craigmillar and runs from Saturday 9th-16th August.

Download Full Press Release
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Download People’s Festival Programme 2008
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PDF File – 553Kb (HiRes)

Angus Calder (1942-2008) – June 10

“a warm, generous and valued friend”

The Edinburgh People’s Festival sends its condolences to the family and friends of Angus Calder who died on 5th June.  Angus was a warm, generous and valued friend of the Edinburgh People’s Festival and always on hand when we needed his advice and assistance.  He participated in the 2003 People’s Festival debate ‘WHOSE CULTURE IS IT ANYWAY?’ staged at the Wester Hailes Education Centre.

We all remember him in fine form up there on the platform ‘flyting’ with Paul Gudgeon the Director of the Fringe, Tommy Shepherd of the Stand Comedy Club, Richard Demarco and Sain Fidimore from WHALE.  Angus Calder, like Hamish Henderson before him, was an intellectual ‘on the workers side’, a poet, historian and author of outstanding talent as well as an everlasting socialist and republican.  He has left us a great deal and we are grateful.

Colin Fox
Chairman
Edinburgh People’s Festival

People’s Festival Launches £1,000 Visual Arts Competition

Richard Demarco To Judge Entries – May 20

The Edinburgh People’s Festival [EPF] today announced that its 2008 programme in August will include a visual arts competition with £1,000 in prize money on offer.

Artists across Scotland are invited to submit wall mounted work on the theme ‘People Like Us’.

Entries will be exhibited at the North Edinburgh Arts Centre in August as part of the 2008 People’s Festival. The competition will run in tandem with a retrospective history of the People’s Festival spanning the last half century.

Download Art Competition Leaflet
PDF File – 82Kb

Download Art Competition Rules – Updated
PDF File – 18Kb

Download Art Competition Forms
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Seumas Milne To Speak At May Day March – April 23

The award winning investigative journalist Seumas Milne will be among the speakers at this years Edinburgh May Day march.

Mr Milne, whose book ‘The Enemy Within’ sensationally exposed MI5 infiltration of the National Union of Mineworkers during the 1845 strike, has accepted an invitation to address the city’s annual labour movement celebration.

Edinburgh May Day organiser Colin Fox believes there will be great interest in what Mr Milne has to say.

“Seumas Milne is an outstanding writer and campaigner for social justice and has been for many years. We are delighted he has agreed to travel from London to participate in our annual May Day celebrations. I am sure such an acclaimed journalist will have much to say about the state of the world today. And I am equally sure there are many people in the Lothians who will want to hear him.”

International Speakers Head to City for May Day Parade – April 7

Organisers of the this years Edinburgh May Day parade, celebrating international solidarity and socialism, today announced the guest speakers for the event which takes place on Saturday 3rd May.

The march this year will be led by Pat Arrowsmith from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Colombian trade union leader Aida Avella.

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Download May Day 2008 Poster
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Download May Day 2008 Postcard
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Award Winning EPF Exhibition Set to Debut in Craigmillar – March 11

The Edinburgh People’s Festival, which last month won two awards worth £8,000 for its exhibition on the 50 year history of the groundbreaking arts project, announced today that the show will take place in the ‘Artspace’, Craigmillar.

People’s Festival Chairman Colin Fox thanked the ‘Artspace’ management committee for agreeing to host the week long exhibition saying:

“I am grateful to the management committee at ‘Artspace’ for making such fantastic facilities available for our exhibition. Craigmillar is in many ways the spiritual home of the Edinburgh People’s Festival.”

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EPF Secures Lottery Funding For Historic Exhibition – March 6

The Edinburgh People’s Festival [EPF] has secured National Lottery funding for an exhibition on its 50 year history. The ‘Awards for All’ Fund has agreed to provide £5,000 towards the cost of the show to be held in August this year.

People’s Festival Chairman Colin Fox welcomed the news and expects to announce details of the venue for the exhibition in the next couple of days on the website. ‘This award from the National Lottery is terrific news for the Edinburgh People’s Festival. Our organisation has grown in leaps and bounds in recent months and we are delighted that the ‘Awards For All’ fund has recognised the great merit in our proposal.’

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Last Spanish Civil war veteran from Scotland dies – March 4

The death of Stevie Fullarton, the last surviving Scot to fight in the Spanish civil war [1936-38] represents the end of an era and breaks an important human link in the struggles of the socialist movement internationally.  Stevie was born in the east end of Glasgow in 1920 and joined the Communist Party as a teenager.  He left Glasgow at the age of seventeen and smuggled himself into Spain via France because he was outraged at the sight of Franco’s fascists threatening the elected Republican government.

Full Story
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Foundation Backs EPF- Feb 24

The Edinburgh People’s Festival has received important financial backing from an influential UK foundation. The Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust based in London aims to ‘advance public education, learning and knowledge in all aspects of the working class movement’. The Trust has awarded the Edinburgh People’s Festival £3,000 towards the cost of an exhibition to be staged later this year.

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Alternative Burns Supper – January 25

On January 25th 2008, an evening of music,comedy, traditional food, discussion and socialising.’Celebrate the Radical’ with Bruce Morton, acclaimed comic, storyteller and social commentator and Patrick Scott Hogg, a leading authority on the writing and life of Burns.

For tickets, £7 (£4 unwaged) contact:

Kevin on 0774 714 8764

Download Full Press Release
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Download Full Poster Details
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AL Kennedy Wins Top Prize – Jan 24

Edinburgh People’s Festival Chairman Colin Fox today sent his warmest congratulations to Scots author AL Kennedy on winning the 2008 Costa’s Book of the Year Award.

Alison Kennedy performed at last years Edinburgh People’s Festival (EPF). Speaking today from New York she expressed her thanks to the EPF both for their kind message and their past support and wished the organisation continued success.

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