Greyfriars Kirk ceilidh          (of Greyfriars Bobby fame!) If you would like to be put on an e-mail mailing list about these ceilidhs, please e-mail ceilidh.bands@dial.pipex.com Ceilidh band HLI / Hebrideans and  caller Ken Gourlay (International Dance Council member)  plus Soft drinks £1 Piper Some international folkdances 7pm, Friday, 2006 1 September Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ 1st 20 tickets £5, £8 in advance, £10 on day, from: 0131 339 5374 (24 hours) with a debit / credit card If you buy 10 or more tickets on this number, we'll give you a free ticket Usher Hall, Lothian Road Tourist Office, 3 Princes Street Stevenson College International Centre

Kids very welcome!  £5

Review (original available)

I'll tell you a secret: I'm not much of a dancer. This might be why I enjoy ceilidhs, where hundreds of people, of varying degrees of skill, dance with strangers who won't judge. There's also help at hand from our caller Ken Gourlay, who talks us through each traditional Celtic dance before we attempt it on our own. The resident band play live while we jig and reel our way clumsily through set after set. All the while I'm having the time of my life, and, even though I'm so exhausted I almost collapse, I somehow find the energy to keep moving for several hours - I'm beginning to think that this dancing thing isn't as hard as I thought!

Rating: 4/5
August 2006
Anne Marie Conlon
Three Weeks in Edinburgh