WORLD Gaelic Week will be marked in the Highlands next month in an international celebration of Scottish culture.
Fort William will host a gathering of West Highland musicians for the event, under the theme of "coming together".
Live in Lochaber (Loch Abar Beò) will showcase musicians and singers from the area on the main stage of The Highland Cinema.
Gairlochy’s Rachel Walker with Aaron Jones, Ardgour’s Mary Ann Kennedy and Finlay Wells, Glenfinnan duo Ingrid Henderson and Iain MacFarlane, and Fort William-based Ewen Henderson will all perform at the festival, in celebration of the Gaelic language.
The cinema café will also hold all-abilities-accessible music sessions, conversation circles and a video exhibit of Gaelic songs, all of which will be free to attend.
Mary Ann Kennedy, one of the organisers of Loch Abar Beò, said: “Lochaber is brimming with Gaelic talent, but we don’t often hear it in Fort William itself.
“We hope the town’s Gaelic community and lovers of the language and culture alike will come out to support this new venture.”
Fellow organiser Rachel Walker added: “Gaelic is a really important part of the area’s identity and economy. This is a great opportunity to bring the language into the heart of Fort William to celebrate just that.”
This will be the second ever World Gaelic Week (Seachdain na Gàidhlig).
The theme of 2022’s festival was Gaelic's growing presence on the world stage, demonstrated by the popularity of the Say A Gaelic Phrase Day event, which took place during lockdown in 2020.
This landed in the middle of a trend of online traffic to the Visit Scotland website, which saw an increase of 72% in users seeking Gaelic related content between 2018 and 2021.
The independent cinema will also serve as a venue in the upcoming Fort William Mountain Festival.
World Gaelic Week will be celebrated between February 20 and February 26, with the local artist showcase taking place on the evening of Saturday, February 25.
Tickets for the evening concert will be available from the Highland Cinema box office: www.highlandcinema.co.uk.
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