around the around the world world

I S P R N G F E S T I V A L S

As Knockengorroch World Ceilidh reaches its 20th anniversary, David Pollock discovers what’s in store for this year

F ounded 20 years ago as the Ceilidh Gall Gallowa’ Festival, Knockengorroch World Ceilidh has been held in various locations around Dumfries & Galloway since then. Although the ‘world’ part is accurate, with performers arriving from America, Mongolia, Egypt, Japan and across Europe, ‘ceilidh’ only gives a hint of what’s on offer. In the headline slots, in fact, electronic music is most well-represented.

The leading name on the bill is Transglobal Underground, who were founded in London in 1990 as a fusion of Western, Asian and African sounds, and have continued in a similar vein ever since, with ten albums released and their song ‘Temple Head’ used in an advertising campaign around the 1996 Olympic Games. They’ll be joined here by their original singer, the Belgian-Egyptian Natacha Atlas, who went on to establish her own solo career. Also taking lead roles in the festival will be Jurassic 5 DJ Cut Chemist and West African female supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique. The former will be introducing his new AV show to go with the release of his second album Die Cut, with this date a Scottish exclusive for this year, while the latter group are a quartet of singers whose 2017 album Republique Amazone received end-of-year praise from The Guardian, The New York Times and Barack Obama.

Elsewhere on the bill, a varied group of artists includes Barcelona-based multi-instrumentalists the Balkan Paradise Orchestra; MALKA, the solo project from the lead singer of 6 Day Riot; and Warp and Ninja Tune’s experimental electronic producer Luke Vibert. The Scottish contingent, meanwhile, includes rapper and producer Kobi Onyame (pictured), DJ sets from Dolphin Boy and Samedia Shebeen, and the full Mungo’s HiFi Soundsystem with Marina P on vocals, playing a bass- heavy set which will demonstrate why the Glasgow crew are Scotland’s i nest dub and dancehall reggae export.

due south due south Glasgow’s Southside Fringe offers diverse fun in uncharted territory, as Gareth K Vile nds out

‘U ntil recently, the Southside and all it has to offer tended not to feature in the city’s tourist maps,’ says Corrina Currie, one of the founders of Southside Fringe. ‘We love the Southside and somebody had to shout about it.’ Developed in response to the Southside Festival that ran until 2014, the Fringe has an open-source curation programme, bringing together comedy, cabaret, music and performance that supports local artists but also includes events from around the country.

Since its inception in 2013, the Fringe has developed an atmosphere that Currie describes as ‘quirky, imaginative, fun, experimental. We strive to encourage folks imagination and encourage the use of spaces not often associated with the arts or live events for example we’ve had fashion shows in swimming pools, comedy and music gigs in living rooms, we even had a show for dogs at a cricket club.’ This year’s events include a poker night in a barber shop. Currie is emphatic that the arts are an ‘essential part of the human experience. The arts landscape is looking bleak under the current UK government and if we can make someone smile or use their imagination, we’re winning.’ Although the Southside Festival has disappeared, the Fringe retains its name to rel ect the spirit of the programme: diverse and open to experimentation, with works in progress, trial runs for the Edinburgh Fringe and familiar Glaswegian performers, including an evening from the Gatsby Club, a cabaret and burlesque event that celebrates the golden age of gangsters, molls and the speakeasy. From its original incarnation as Further South, which presented Bruce Morton’s satirical Greater Shawlands Republic, the Southside Fringe has always managed to represent both the eclectic communities of artists who live across the Clyde and a sparky, countercultural wit. For Currie, there is no limit: ‘The more unusual an idea the better!’

Knockengorroch World Ceilidh, Dumfries & Galloway, Thu 24–Sun 27 May. Southside Fringe, various venues, Glasgow, Fri 11–Sun 27 May.

1 Apr–31 May 2018 THE LIST 41