Live discussion on the New National Company for traditional music

Join Hands Up for Trad on European Folk Day, Wednesday 23 September at 2pm, for a live broadcast across our social media channels discussing the proposed New National Company for traditional music.

The conversation will be chaired by David Francis, who has been closely involved in discussions on this subject for many years, and will bring together different voices from across the sector to explore what shape this proposal could take.

What’s the background?
The Scottish Government has proposed a New National Company for traditional music, with £5 million of investment attached. A recent roundtable with the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Màiri McAllan, brought together organisations from across the traditional music sector to discuss what form this investment should take — from a fixed-ensemble model similar to Scottish Opera or the RSNO, to more flexible approaches that could support touring, recording, commissions, and artists at different career stages. There’s a range of views across the sector on which approach would serve traditional music best, and this broadcast is a chance to hear more of that debate.

The Scottish Government is also running a public consultation on the proposal, open until [date TBC — please confirm], which anyone with an interest can respond to:
🔗 Consultation form
🔗 More on the proposal from the Scottish Government

Can’t tune in live? The broadcast will be available to watch back on our channels afterwards.