The Maclennan Scottish Group is hosting its 31st International Folk Dance and Music Festival during the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend (June  1-4) at Langley Park School for Boys in Beckenham.

The timetable has been adjusted to allow all participants (and our audience) time to enjoy the Jubilee events next Sunday, so two of the music festival’s public events are being staged on Saturday June 2.

The group was formed in 1979 and the festival has been held every year since 1982. Each year, the organisers invite two overseas groups to perform, together with local folk groups representing a wide variety of traditions, costume, dance, and music.This year, the visiting groups are from Germany and a Finnish group based north of the Arctic Circle.

The format of the weekend has remained similar over the years, with an afternoon folk dance concert and an evening folk dance and ceilidh, both open to the general public.

Tickets for both these events are available in advance and at the door.

As well as the public performances, the visitors take part in welcome and farewell parties,
sightseeing trips, barbecues, picnics and demonstrations of folk dancing. This year, there will be performances for the residents at Bencurtis Park in West Wickham, and the multi-denominational service being held in Coney Hall Park on Sunday morning.

The Epping Forest Pipe Band will be performing and also accompanying the MacLennan
Scottish Group dancers. For the Saturday afternoon concert there is also the Upland
Junior Scottish dancers and on Saturday night, the Wild Hunt Morris Dancers.

For further information, please contact: festival@msg.org.uk or phone: 020 8300 0621, or visit the website www.msg.org.uk