47th Annual NAAFC Championship 2021
A Virtual Festival
Nominated for Event of the Year at MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2021
by Richard Ross, Festival Chairman
B&F January 2022
I was very proud to represent the NAAFC Festival family at the MG Alba Trad Awards in December 2021, as the Festival was nominated for the Virtual Event of the Year.
I thought that this was a good time to reflect and look back at how we achieved this. We were fortunate that our live Festival went ahead in March 2020. It was the last event to take place in Grangemouth Town Hall before Lockdown. As the year went on, it was a major blow to realise that after 46 years of running a live event, a live 2021 event could not take place.
After much deliberation and worry about whether or not we could run a virtual event we set up a Virtual Festival Committee and our first of many Zoom meetings took place in November 2020. There were so many new aspects of running an event that had to be considered and I have captured some of this below to give you a flavour of the activities that were undertaken :-
1) Document a plan detailing all activities.
2) Set up a new Committee where each member contributed different strengths to bring it all together.
3) Set up a new webpage, linked Paypal Account and YouTube video links – a huge amount of work condensed into one sentence.
4) Modify competitions and rules as required to suit a Virtual Festival.
5) Devise different approaches to encourage entries and create posters to advertise the event.
6) Provide new guidelines and marking sheets to support adjudicators.
7) Record various videos to promote the Festival, and upload adjudicators’ videos to the website.
8) Work with the BBC to supply recording for TTF and provide results on the same day for announcing on TTF.
9) Produce a Virtual Programme of Competitions.
10) Test and clip all video recordings.
11) Create new certificates.
12) Deal with lots of queries – this was new for everyone.
13) Ensure that competitors send us videos of their performances in the correct format.
This is not an exhaustive list and I would personally like to thank our Virtual Festival committee for an unbelievable effort in putting this all together. Margaret Knight, Iain Cathcart and Scott Band – thank you, what a team! Further thanks are due to Stuart Cameron and Marie Martin for providing additional invaluable support.
It was great to see that the number of entries for our virtual Festival competitions amounted to 241 (146 last year). We are very proud that our competitors’ ages ranged from 7 years to well over 60 years. It was a fantastic effort from everyone which was greatly appreciated and a huge relief to the Committee. Thanks go to all the competitors, parents, teachers, and supporters. We believe that we now have a competition that is suitable for many more of our players that attend Accordion & Fiddle Clubs and beyond.
Why not give it a try at our Festival on 5th March 2022 at Grangemouth Town Hall. Look out for our competition schedule via the NAAFC Festival website (www.naafcfestival.co.uk)
The Trad Awards nomination was a result of everyone’s collective effort and determination to make our first ever Virtual Festival such a success. Thank you, one and all.
We very much look forward to seeing you all in person in March.
Junior Accordion
Under 10 Traditional Accordion Solo – Islesteps Shield
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Ryan Johns0on
3) Emily Gold
Under 12 Traditional Accordion Solo – Pentland Cup
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Ryan Johnson
3) Kyle Leslie
12 and Under 16 Traditional Accordion Solo – Jim Johnstone Cup
1) Clelland Shand
2) Inver Shand
3) Blyth Shand
12 and Under 16 Traditional Accordion Solo – James Paterson Memorial Trophy
Most Promising Player
Victoria Byrne-McCombie
Junior Accordion Solo Pipe Music – Bill Black Cup
1) Inver Shand
2) Clelland Shand
3) Victoria Byrne-McCombie
Junior Traditional Duet – Angus Howie Cups
1) Rosie Laundon & Tyler Martin
2) Magnus A. & Evie C. Williamson
3)
Overall Junior Accordion Champion – Alex Little Memorial Trophy
Clelland Shand
Senior Accordion
Senior Traditional Accordion Solo – Clinkscale Cup
1) Bruce Peebles
2) Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul
3) Iain Cathcart
Senior Accordion Pipe Music Solo – Bill Powrie Memorial Cup
1) Liam Stewart
2) John Burns
3=) Colin Brown / Ian Smith
Accordion Solo (Traditional Music) 40 and Over – Provost’s Cup
1) Iain Cathcart
2) Charlie Kirkpatrick
3=) Alan Shute / Jim McLaren
Accordion Solo (Own Choice) 60 and Over Incl with 40 and Over – Alan Shute Trophy
1) Charlie Kirkpatrick
2) Alan Shute
Open Accordion Championship – Todhills Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Overall Senior Accordion Champion - The Bobby MacLeod Trophy
Bruce Peebles
Open Buttonkey Accordion Solo – John Allan Trophy & The Windygates Trophy
1) Scott Band
2) Charlie Kirkpatrick
3)
Open Gaelic Waltz Solo - Dorothy Patterson Memorial Trophy
1) Craig Paton
2) Gary Sutherland
3) John Carmichael
Trios – Jimmy Blue Trophy & Eric Goodfellow Memorial Shield
1) Duncan Black Trio
2) Rhiann Matthew Trio
3) Fin Hope Trio
Trio Runners-Up – Eric Goodfellow Memorial Shield
Rhiann Matthew Trio
Trios – Best Piano Player – David Flockhart Shield
Craig Paton – Duncan Black Trio
Bands – Overall Winner - Iain MacPhail Cup
1) John Burns Band
2) Fin Hope Band
3) The Committeed
Runners Up John Fairbairn Memorial Trophy
Fin Hope Band
Band – Rhythm Section - Arthur Easson Memorial Trophy
John Burns Band
Junior Band – Duncan Campbell of Oban Memorial Trophy
Own Composition – Willie Wilson Cup
1) Duncan Black
2) Rhiann Matthew
3) Claire Gullan
Accordion & fiddle Club Representative Open - Banchory A&F Club Trophy
1) Biggar A&F Club
2) Clydesdale A&F Club
3) Carlisle A&F Club
RSCDS Open Dance – RSCDS Trophy
1)
2)
Under 12 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Kelso Cup
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Emily Gold
3) Ryan Johnson
Under 14 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Aberdeen Cup
1) Inver Shand
2) Jake Johnstone
3)
Under 16 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Dundee Shield
1) Clelland Shand
2) Kirsty Grant
3) Blythe Shand
Under 14 Classical Polka Solo – Newtongrange Shield
1)
2)
3)
Senior Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Jimmy Clinkscale Shield
1) Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul
2) Archie MacKechnie
3) Brendan Dougal-Kittel
Under 13 Classical Duet – Beith & District A&F Club Cups (Willie Wilson Memorial Trophies)
1)
2)
Under 16 Classical Duet - Alex MacArthur Cups
1) Charlotte Hamlet & Daisy Arnold
2)
3)
Open Classical Duet – Dunfermline Cup
1)
2)
3)
Classical Polka
Under 10 Classical Polka Solo – The Todhills Trophy
1)
2)
Under 12 Classical Polka Solo – Newtongrange Shield
1)
2)
3)
Open Classical Polka Solo – Tign-Na-Gorm Cup
1)
2)
3)
Under 14 Classical Musette Accordion Solo – John Laidlaw Memorial Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Open 6/8 Pipe March – Christine Hunter Memorial Trophy
1) Lynn McIver
2) John Carmichael
3=) Iain Cathcart / Claire Gullan / Tom Orr
Fiddle Sections
Under 12 Fiddle Solo – NAAFC Musselburgh Festival Trophy
1) Kristie Williamson
2) Ellie Nicolson
3) Andrew Farquharson
Junior Fiddle Solo – MSR – Strathspey and Reel Association Cup & Kirsty’s Ceilidh Shield
1) Magnus A. Williamson
2) Ashley Hay
3) Amber Thomson
Junior Fiddle Solo – Slow Air – Dougie Welsh Memorial Cup
1) Ashley Hay
2) Rose Byers
3) Amber Thomson
Senior Fiddle Solo – Slow Strathspey, MSR – St. Boswell Cup
1) Shona MacFadyen
2) Anne Mitchell
3) Rhiann Matthew
Senior Fiddle Solo – Slow Air – Ron Gonella Cup
1) Emma Leask
2) Anne Mitchell
3) Rhiann Matthew
Open Fiddle Championship – Banchory S&R Society Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Open Fiddle Solo Hornpipe and Jig – John Ellis Trophy
1) Emma Leask
2) Barbara Coutts
3) Rhiann Matthew
Overall Fiddle Champion - The Angus Fitchet Trophy
Anne Mitchell
Overall Junior Fiddle Champion – Judith Linton Trophy
Ashley Hay
Open Fiddle Groups – Lesmahagow Quaich
1) Deeside Loons & quines
2) Forget-Me-Notes
3) The Last Gaspers
Youngest Girl Competitor – John McQueen Medal
Zara Crossan
Youngest Boy Competitor – John McQueen Medal
Alistair Adamson
I thought that this was a good time to reflect and look back at how we achieved this. We were fortunate that our live Festival went ahead in March 2020. It was the last event to take place in Grangemouth Town Hall before Lockdown. As the year went on, it was a major blow to realise that after 46 years of running a live event, a live 2021 event could not take place.
After much deliberation and worry about whether or not we could run a virtual event we set up a Virtual Festival Committee and our first of many Zoom meetings took place in November 2020. There were so many new aspects of running an event that had to be considered and I have captured some of this below to give you a flavour of the activities that were undertaken :-
1) Document a plan detailing all activities.
2) Set up a new Committee where each member contributed different strengths to bring it all together.
3) Set up a new webpage, linked Paypal Account and YouTube video links – a huge amount of work condensed into one sentence.
4) Modify competitions and rules as required to suit a Virtual Festival.
5) Devise different approaches to encourage entries and create posters to advertise the event.
6) Provide new guidelines and marking sheets to support adjudicators.
7) Record various videos to promote the Festival, and upload adjudicators’ videos to the website.
8) Work with the BBC to supply recording for TTF and provide results on the same day for announcing on TTF.
9) Produce a Virtual Programme of Competitions.
10) Test and clip all video recordings.
11) Create new certificates.
12) Deal with lots of queries – this was new for everyone.
13) Ensure that competitors send us videos of their performances in the correct format.
This is not an exhaustive list and I would personally like to thank our Virtual Festival committee for an unbelievable effort in putting this all together. Margaret Knight, Iain Cathcart and Scott Band – thank you, what a team! Further thanks are due to Stuart Cameron and Marie Martin for providing additional invaluable support.
It was great to see that the number of entries for our virtual Festival competitions amounted to 241 (146 last year). We are very proud that our competitors’ ages ranged from 7 years to well over 60 years. It was a fantastic effort from everyone which was greatly appreciated and a huge relief to the Committee. Thanks go to all the competitors, parents, teachers, and supporters. We believe that we now have a competition that is suitable for many more of our players that attend Accordion & Fiddle Clubs and beyond.
Why not give it a try at our Festival on 5th March 2022 at Grangemouth Town Hall. Look out for our competition schedule via the NAAFC Festival website (www.naafcfestival.co.uk)
The Trad Awards nomination was a result of everyone’s collective effort and determination to make our first ever Virtual Festival such a success. Thank you, one and all.
We very much look forward to seeing you all in person in March.
Junior Accordion
Under 10 Traditional Accordion Solo – Islesteps Shield
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Ryan Johns0on
3) Emily Gold
Under 12 Traditional Accordion Solo – Pentland Cup
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Ryan Johnson
3) Kyle Leslie
12 and Under 16 Traditional Accordion Solo – Jim Johnstone Cup
1) Clelland Shand
2) Inver Shand
3) Blyth Shand
12 and Under 16 Traditional Accordion Solo – James Paterson Memorial Trophy
Most Promising Player
Victoria Byrne-McCombie
Junior Accordion Solo Pipe Music – Bill Black Cup
1) Inver Shand
2) Clelland Shand
3) Victoria Byrne-McCombie
Junior Traditional Duet – Angus Howie Cups
1) Rosie Laundon & Tyler Martin
2) Magnus A. & Evie C. Williamson
3)
Overall Junior Accordion Champion – Alex Little Memorial Trophy
Clelland Shand
Senior Accordion
Senior Traditional Accordion Solo – Clinkscale Cup
1) Bruce Peebles
2) Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul
3) Iain Cathcart
Senior Accordion Pipe Music Solo – Bill Powrie Memorial Cup
1) Liam Stewart
2) John Burns
3=) Colin Brown / Ian Smith
Accordion Solo (Traditional Music) 40 and Over – Provost’s Cup
1) Iain Cathcart
2) Charlie Kirkpatrick
3=) Alan Shute / Jim McLaren
Accordion Solo (Own Choice) 60 and Over Incl with 40 and Over – Alan Shute Trophy
1) Charlie Kirkpatrick
2) Alan Shute
Open Accordion Championship – Todhills Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Overall Senior Accordion Champion - The Bobby MacLeod Trophy
Bruce Peebles
Open Buttonkey Accordion Solo – John Allan Trophy & The Windygates Trophy
1) Scott Band
2) Charlie Kirkpatrick
3)
Open Gaelic Waltz Solo - Dorothy Patterson Memorial Trophy
1) Craig Paton
2) Gary Sutherland
3) John Carmichael
Trios – Jimmy Blue Trophy & Eric Goodfellow Memorial Shield
1) Duncan Black Trio
2) Rhiann Matthew Trio
3) Fin Hope Trio
Trio Runners-Up – Eric Goodfellow Memorial Shield
Rhiann Matthew Trio
Trios – Best Piano Player – David Flockhart Shield
Craig Paton – Duncan Black Trio
Bands – Overall Winner - Iain MacPhail Cup
1) John Burns Band
2) Fin Hope Band
3) The Committeed
Runners Up John Fairbairn Memorial Trophy
Fin Hope Band
Band – Rhythm Section - Arthur Easson Memorial Trophy
John Burns Band
Junior Band – Duncan Campbell of Oban Memorial Trophy
Own Composition – Willie Wilson Cup
1) Duncan Black
2) Rhiann Matthew
3) Claire Gullan
Accordion & fiddle Club Representative Open - Banchory A&F Club Trophy
1) Biggar A&F Club
2) Clydesdale A&F Club
3) Carlisle A&F Club
RSCDS Open Dance – RSCDS Trophy
1)
2)
Under 12 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Kelso Cup
1) Alistair Adamson
2) Emily Gold
3) Ryan Johnson
Under 14 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Aberdeen Cup
1) Inver Shand
2) Jake Johnstone
3)
Under 16 Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Dundee Shield
1) Clelland Shand
2) Kirsty Grant
3) Blythe Shand
Under 14 Classical Polka Solo – Newtongrange Shield
1)
2)
3)
Senior Classical / Variety Accordion Solo – Jimmy Clinkscale Shield
1) Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul
2) Archie MacKechnie
3) Brendan Dougal-Kittel
Under 13 Classical Duet – Beith & District A&F Club Cups (Willie Wilson Memorial Trophies)
1)
2)
Under 16 Classical Duet - Alex MacArthur Cups
1) Charlotte Hamlet & Daisy Arnold
2)
3)
Open Classical Duet – Dunfermline Cup
1)
2)
3)
Classical Polka
Under 10 Classical Polka Solo – The Todhills Trophy
1)
2)
Under 12 Classical Polka Solo – Newtongrange Shield
1)
2)
3)
Open Classical Polka Solo – Tign-Na-Gorm Cup
1)
2)
3)
Under 14 Classical Musette Accordion Solo – John Laidlaw Memorial Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Open 6/8 Pipe March – Christine Hunter Memorial Trophy
1) Lynn McIver
2) John Carmichael
3=) Iain Cathcart / Claire Gullan / Tom Orr
Fiddle Sections
Under 12 Fiddle Solo – NAAFC Musselburgh Festival Trophy
1) Kristie Williamson
2) Ellie Nicolson
3) Andrew Farquharson
Junior Fiddle Solo – MSR – Strathspey and Reel Association Cup & Kirsty’s Ceilidh Shield
1) Magnus A. Williamson
2) Ashley Hay
3) Amber Thomson
Junior Fiddle Solo – Slow Air – Dougie Welsh Memorial Cup
1) Ashley Hay
2) Rose Byers
3) Amber Thomson
Senior Fiddle Solo – Slow Strathspey, MSR – St. Boswell Cup
1) Shona MacFadyen
2) Anne Mitchell
3) Rhiann Matthew
Senior Fiddle Solo – Slow Air – Ron Gonella Cup
1) Emma Leask
2) Anne Mitchell
3) Rhiann Matthew
Open Fiddle Championship – Banchory S&R Society Trophy
1)
2)
3)
Open Fiddle Solo Hornpipe and Jig – John Ellis Trophy
1) Emma Leask
2) Barbara Coutts
3) Rhiann Matthew
Overall Fiddle Champion - The Angus Fitchet Trophy
Anne Mitchell
Overall Junior Fiddle Champion – Judith Linton Trophy
Ashley Hay
Open Fiddle Groups – Lesmahagow Quaich
1) Deeside Loons & quines
2) Forget-Me-Notes
3) The Last Gaspers
Youngest Girl Competitor – John McQueen Medal
Zara Crossan
Youngest Boy Competitor – John McQueen Medal
Alistair Adamson