1951 Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh

( Rounder Records )
Part of the Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales Series

Recorded 1951 by Alan Lomax

Notes by Ewan McVicar

The 1951 Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh was the event that both heralded and inspired the Scottish Folk Revival of the 1960s. Presided over by the legendary poet, songwriter, and folklorist Hamish Henderson, it featured some of the leading lights of the traditional music scene. Luckily, Alan Lomax was on hand to document this spirited, moving event.

“[This] crystalline reconstruction of a rollicking good night enraptures.” —Glasgow Herald

“A must.” —BBC Radio Scotland