GalGael & Dorna Scotland to headline at Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival

TRADITIONAL CRAFT AND SKILLS SHOWCASED IN SCOTLAND

The craft skills employed in traditional boat building will be celebrated in style at this year’s Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy this June, thanks to a new partnership between the festival and DORNA Scotland. The main marquee at Portsoy’s Old Harbour will be given over to demonstrations of traditional maritime crafts.

Additionally, Scotland’s west coast island of Cumbrae will host an international gathering celebrating maritime heritage and culture this August. Sail and Oar at Cumbrae will welcome participants from Scotland, Ireland, and Spain with traditional boats, crafts, music, dance and food for a long weekend of events and activities on sea and land.

This event is a partnership between two Scottish social enterprises, the Gal Gael Trust and the Cumbrae Community Development Company. Glasgow based Gal Gael Trust are well known for engaging the community in building and sailing traditional boats in celebration of Scotland’s heritage. CCDC is the development trust for the island of Cumbrae, owners of the Garrison House, and charged with the regeneration of the island.


Both events are supported by the DORNA partnership, a European initiative promoting traditional boat building and related skills.

DORNA Scotland is a partnership celebrating traditional boat-building in Scotland. It is cataloguing traditional craft and the yards that built them, celebrating maritime heritage and traditional skills at festivals and events, and working with partners to explore opportunities for the future of these traditional industries.

DORNA Scotland is led by the GalGael Trust. Gehan Macleod, Project Co-ordinator, said: “DORNA Scotland is delighted to be working again with the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival to highlight the importance of boat-building in Scotland both historically and in the future. DORNA aims to not only celebrate and share the historic craft skills employed in building traditional vessels, but also explore how traditional boat-builders can work together to find new markets in the future.”

This year’s Scottish Traditional Boat Festival takes place in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire on 26 and 27 June 2010. Sail and Oar at Cumbrae will run from Saturday 14th – Sunday 15th August 2010.