Mary Duff of Fèis Taigh Dhonnchaidh tells us how a Creative Lives 'Together Again' microgrant helped the 2022 festival take place.

"This year’s Fèis Taigh Dhonnchaidh took place between 11-15 April 2022, and it was very well attended.

Fèis Nis, for children aged 4-8, had 34 participants and they did a wide range of activities including art, dancing, Gaelic singing and games. Fèis Taigh Dhonnchaidh had 12 young participants between the age of 8–18 learning Gaelic song and drama, guitar, drumming, chanter, accordion, melodeon, fiddle, step-dance and art. 

There was also a concert held on Friday evening and this was well attended by participants, tutors, families, and the local community. It was great to see the young participants get a chance to show off what they had learned during the week, and we saw that they all gained more confidence as the days went on. 

Fèis Taigh Dhonnchaidh happens in the Taigh Dhonnchaidh house, but Fèis Nis takes place in the local school gym each year. This year there were extra cleaning costs involved in the hiring of the local school gym because of Covid-19. The Creative Lives microgrant helped towards these extra costs, and this meant that participants could enjoy their week in a safe and clean environment. 

Nine tutors and four supervisors were employed to run the Fèis this year, and this benefited the local economy and the local musicians who have lost so much work over the last two years. We are now living in a world where the price of living has risen so much, and the Creative Lives microgrant greatly helped towards tutor costs, cleaning costs and the overall running cost of the Fèis. 

Taigh Dhonnchaidh is extremely grateful to Creatives Lives for this funding."