The MacLennan Festival

The MacLennan Scottish Group hosted its first festival in 1982, when it invited De Krekels of Bonheiden, in Flanders, Belgium, to visit Britain.  Since then a festival has been held every year.  It is normally held during the last weekend in May (the Spring Bank Holiday weekend).  For more details on the next Festival, click here.

For the first thirteen years the festival was held in Sidcup, where many of the founder members of the Group were based.  Since 1995 it has been based in Bromley.  The format of the weekend has remained similar over the years.  It focuses on a Folk Ball on the Saturday night, and, on the Sunday afternoon, a three-hour programme of demonstrations by the visiting group or groups, together with local folk groups and the MacLennan Group.  The Folk Ball and the Sunday afternoon performance are both open to the general public.  Details of the Festival may be obtained from the Group (contact us).

Generally one foreign group is invited to visit the UK each year, but sometimes two groups are invited. For a list of foreign groups which have attended the festival, please click here.  The limiting factors are finance and the question of hosting the visiting groups – the visitors normally stay with families in the Sidcup and Bromley areas, and the hosts are involved in all the events of the weekend, including welcome and farewell parties, sightseeing trips, barbecues, picnics and demonstrations of folk dancing.

If you are interested in hosting foreign visitors over the weekend of the Festival, please contact us.

Among the many groups from the London area which have performed at the MacLennan Festival over the years are the Upland Dancers, Wadard Morris, Deegan Academy of Irish Dance, London Latvian Folkdance Group, Metelyk Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, Duna Hungarian Dancers, and Lyra Greek Dancers.

During the year MacLennan Scottish Dancers take part in demonstrations, and organise dances and other activities in order to raise money to run the annual Festival. For details of these, please see the News page.