The past, present and future of traditional music

EDINBURGH TRADFEST – The very best traditional music from Scotland and around the world.
THIS YEAR’S DATES: 1 – 11 May 2026
A Soundhouse festival

What's on?

What's New

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CITY OF EDINBURGH MUSIC SCHOOL PUPILS LEARN WHY TRADITION SHOULD NOT SIT STILL
CITY OF EDINBURGH MUSIC SCHOOL PUPILS LEARN WHY TRADITION SHOULD NOT SIT STILL

Amy Geddes and Alison Carlyle offer inspiration to Music School pupils

Watch our mini documentary
Watch our mini documentary

Find out what is so special about this year’s festival

Storytelling, Film, Workshops and Sessions added to programme
Storytelling, Film, Workshops and Sessions added to programme

Find your favourites and some hidden gems

Here we go ...
Here we go ...

Our 2026 music line up is revealed

Looking back at ETF 25
Looking back at ETF 25

All the highlights, noted!

Relive the magic with this year's videos
Relive the magic with this year's videos

Some choice moments from For the Love of Trees and ETF Spotlight

Catch Rebellious Truth online
Catch Rebellious Truth online

Join us this Sunday (11/5/25)

Five years ago today
Five years ago today

Remembering 2020

SESSION LEADERS REVEALED
SESSION LEADERS REVEALED

Come and join us for a tune

ROSS AINSLIE RECOMMENDS THE ENTIRE LINE UP!
ROSS AINSLIE RECOMMENDS THE ENTIRE LINE UP!

Praise indeed from ETF25 headliner

 

Join the Tradfest mailing list

 
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Your wee ones wanting to join in on the singing? 👧🏼 Following the success of last year’s child-friendly show we are delighted to be welcoming Fiona Hunter, one of the leading voices in Scottish traditional music, to lead this year’s r
Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin' is back in partnership with Edinburgh Tradfest, offering a day of workshops for young musicians on 4th May 2026, with support from the William Grant Foundation. This is a chance for young people to develop their skills, pl
Feel like joining in? Learning something new? Our workshops are now on sale! 🎤 Learn songs from southern Africa with the incredible Bruce Ncube. 🎻 Learn tunes from Laura Wilkie, one of Scotland's finest fiddlers. 🎸 From Anna Massie, learn techn
Modern Scandinavian trad at its best! Northern Resonance is a Swedish folk trio that brings newly composed traditional music into a new soundscape. Through their combination of viola d’amore, Hardanger fiddle and 12-string guitar, the trio al
Our headliners on Wednesday 6 May are The Furrow Collective, who are well-loved for their contemporary interpretations of folk songs, and their new Cantastoria project focuses on what they do best, breathing new life into old ballads, in song, story
NOW ON SALE // We are honoured to welcome, for this year’s Rebellious Truth, a towering figure in Scottish folk music, respected not just in his home country but across the globe. DICK GAUGHAN, a singer of rare quality, a peerless guitar styl
Another group from across the pond, The Onlies are a longstanding collective of young friends defining a powerful new generation of stringband music. Described as “the best old-time stringband out there” (Songlines), they “make ol
Our Tuesday night headiner is a live medicine show act harking back to the 1920s! The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter is a dazzling display of virtuosity by Canada’s most revered old-time and folk musicians, and a performance art piece
Coming up - Deiseil: Dancing in Time! 'tells an important story with the lightest of touches and doesn’t put a foot wrong' ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – The Scotsman Experience a compelling journey across centuries of tradition told through fiddle, fee
🔥 Opening the Monday evening is Tim Edey, one of our favourite multi-instrumentalists. With a virtuosity to die for, a passion for traditional and self-penned music, and an engaging and offbeat personality, Tim is definitely ‘one of a kind&rsq
A spotlight on one of our first weekday artists: Josie Duncan, an exceptional folk singer, songwriter and composer ✨ For this project, A’ Chiad Litir (The First Letter), Josie turns her attention to the life and poetry of the sixteenth-century
Let’s browse through the exceptional artists joining us on our opening weekend, shows which are now ON SALE! 🚨 (images above not in order of event) Edinburgh Tradfest 2026 hits the ground running at Hangar 5, Potterrow on Friday 1 May with RU
Finally 🎉 our eighth Edinburgh Tradfest is on its way! Inspiring our bright colour scheme this year is GANNA (pictured above), a very special Ukrainian artist who’ll be gracing the Traverse stage on Saturday 9 May. But way before that, let
Well, that's *almost* a wrap on #EdinTradfest25 - we're just putting the finishing touches on our round-up video and reporting - but wanted to celebrate that 2025 saw more audience members than ever before at the @traversetheatre (up 15% on last year
We’re enjoying a lovely rest day after our amazing closing concert with Siobhan Miller last night, but wanted to offer our heartfelt thanks to those who helped us put Edinburgh Tradfest main music programme together this year. It was definitely