Posts Tagged ‘Changin’ Scotland’
Changin Scotland
FRIDAY MARCH 22nd-SUNDAY MARCH 24th
The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool
Friday March 22nd
8.15pm Welcome
Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart
The Limits of Nationalism: Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Alex Massie, writer and commentator, The Spectator Read the rest of this entry »
CHANGIN SCOTLAND
NOVEMBER 2nd-4th 2012
OUR TENTH YEAR! OUR TWENTIETH WEEKEND
The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland
Friday November 2nd
Welcome 8.15pm
Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart Read the rest of this entry »
Changin Scotland
A weekend of politics, culture and ideas …. And fun!
Friday November 4th-Sunday November 6th
The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool
Details of Programme Below: Read the rest of this entry »
What is Changin’ Scotland?
Changin’ Scotland has been a regular event at The Ceilidh Place since 2002. Run twice a year – every March and November – each weekend is put together and hosted by Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart – and covers a range of discussions and happenings on politics, culture, music and film, with the intention of having a good time. Weekends cover the entire universe of political and cultural thought, artistic endeavour, community activism, philosophical investigations, international campaigning and imagining new possibilities. Sometimes we just like to have a bit of fun! The story continues into what will be in 2010 unbelievably our eighth year!
Why is it called Changin’ Scotland?
Jean and Gerry were lost for a title for their first weekend in 2002 and it became known as Changin’ Scotland. It was originally going to be called Changing Scotland, but when Jean went to the Woolworths in Inverness (in the good old days) to buy a set of letters to form a backdrop in the Bunkhouse, Woolies only had one ‘g’. No wonder they shut down! Initially a second ‘g’ was going to be purchased, but the original name stuck!
Changin’ Scotland is not a narrow or insular set of discussions, but about Scotland, the UK and the world. It deliberately encourages international discussions, reflections on campaigning, and exploring the connections and differences Scots and others make across the globe.
When is the next Changin’ Scotland?
The next weekend is March 19th-21st 2010 – our fifteenth weekend. Tickets can be booked by calling up The Ceilidh Place on 01854612103. Check this website for programme details.
A few reflections and found memories from the weekends ….
Some of the best moments ….
The nervousness of the first one. Hiring a minivan to take people up from Glasgow to Ullapool for it. The experience of seeing Croft No. 5 that first weekend – on the Saturday. An intoxicating mixture of traditional, jazz and dance music in a Ceilidh Place packed with young people enjoying themselves: a harbinger for future weekends and our country!
The Wendy Alexander/Fiona Hyslop discussion on Labour-SNP lack of understanding. This was originally going to be Wendy and Jim Sillars after their legendary exchange of admiring letters, but Jim pulled out with weeks to go. Wendy declared that if Scotland became independent ‘she would cope with it’. George Kerevan and John Curtice provided another perspective in this session, and with the two women in the middle and men as bookends it had an air of ABBA or more accurately Brotherhood of Man! Read the rest of this entry »
