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weeWONDERBOX: ColumbaFest
June 9, 2017 - June 11, 2017

A seasonal celebration of faith, culture politics and creativity
Full Programme with Timings & Venues here
ColumbaFest is a weekend festival at the anniversary of St Columba’s death. St Columba is the holy man who came from Ireland to settle on the island of Iona, and in time, established the religious settlement there. He christianised Scotland; and the mission work of his followers spread out from there to reach parts of central and southern Europe.
During the festival, workshops and other events will explore themes from Columba’s life, such as learning, mission, exile, prayer, spirituality and political engagement. And in echoes of his and the Celtic Church’s emphasis on incarnation, we’ll explore issues that are of importance in the contemporary context and culture of Scotland, and which have broader resonance further afield.
Download the latest ColumbaFest flyer here. Any help with publicity, much appreciated.
Events & Contributors
Programme listing of events by day. More info on contributors and workshop leaders on the Contributors page here.
FRIDAY evening @ Gorbals Parish Church
Feral Arts/ Ishbel McFarlane’s ‘O Is For Hoolet’ … theatre show on a journey into Scots language. More info
The In-Laws … Suzanne Adam & Steve Butler (of Fischy Music, Lies Damned Lies lineage and fame). More info (Steve)
SATURDAY daytime @ The Ground, Carlton Court
Luke Devlin … Executive Director of the Centre For Human Ecology, activist in crisis response, homelessness, youth and community work and founding director of Equally Green CIC, a social enterprise working on green jobs for young people in areas of multiple deprivation on ‘In the Waterscape of St Columba’. More info
Mary Ann Kennedy … renowned Scots Gaelic musician, singer, broadcaster, conductor, composer and producer on ‘Scots Gaelic culture’; ‘Feuch Facal – Scots Gaelic for Beginners’; and in conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama. More info
Pádraig Ó Tuama … Leader of the Corrymeela Community, peace, reconciliation & LGBT activist and poet on ‘Celtic Christianity?’; ‘Understanding Conflict Styles’ and in conversation with Mary Ann Kennedy. More info
Alison Phipps & Robert Swinfen … activists and Iona Community members working in the area of asylum-seekers & refugees, education and housing on ‘Giving Shelter to The Stranger’ (reflections on giving a home to refugees for 10 years). More info (Alison)
Lina Toth … Assistant Principal and lecturer in Practical Theology at the Scottish Baptist College in Paisley, theologian, musician and artist, on ‘Doing Singleness, Doing Family’. More info
BERT and Friends … the lovely folk, Rachel Anderson, Catriona Milligan, Bryan Evans and Ian Milligan, from Glasgow’s long-established South Side base community, on living together corporately, compassionately and sacrificially, in conversation with John Harvey, former Iona Community Leader and previous member of the ground-breaking Gorbals Community.
John Bell … Scottish hymn writer, theologian, preacher, educator, Iona Community member and Wild Goose Resource Group worker, on ‘The Greening Of God’. More info
SATURDAY tea-time @ The Ground, Carlton Court
Fischy Music … a free, tea-time concert for kids & families with the energetic, musical marvels. Bring a picnic/ sandwiches, and we’ll provide juice and drinks. More info
SATURDAY evening @ The Ground, Carlton Court
Mary Ann Kennedy … renowned Scots Gaelic musician, singer, broadcaster, conductor, composer and producer, working from Watercolour Music in Ardgour. More info
Ceilidh … with songs & stories.
SUNDAY morning @ Gorbals Parish Church
A Sunday Morning General (r)E(f)lection … with Ian Milligan of BERT. Early morning croissants and papers and respectful conversations on the state of the world.
A Columba of Iona liturgy … led by Rev. Ian Galloway & Wild Goose Resource Group.
SUNDAY afternoon @ The Ground, Carlton Court
Eurig Scandrett … lecturer in Sociology and coordinator of postgraduate programmes in Social Justice at Edinburgh Queen Margaret University, activist and Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, on Israel-Palestine. More info
Pádraig Ó Tuama … (as above) on ‘The Poetry & Lyrics of Leonard Cohen. More info
Deborah Lewer … is Senior Lecturer in History of Art, theologian and Pecha Kucha organiser on art, faith & culture. More info
John Bell & Wild Goose … A Big Sing. More info
Jo Love … WGRG resource worker on deeper conversation. More info
SUNDAY evening @ Gorbals Parish Church
Margaret McLarty … singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of Fischy Music, Wild Goose Collective and Hinba reknown, with songs from her new album ‘Brigid’s Birds’. More info
Ashton Lane … one of Glasgow’s finest homegrown modern country music ensembles, Esther and Tim O’Connor and friends. More info
More ColumbaFest contributors to be confirmed soon … keep checking this page, the WGRG blog and our Facebook events page.
Blog & updates
We’ll be posting a series of blogs on ColumbaFest-associated issues and contributors leading up to the festival, which you can follow on the WGRG blog. You can sign up to the RSS Feed to receive notification of these direct to your email inbox. And there’ll be more updates in future eNews releases … coming soon! Jist so ye canny say ye wurnae tellt!
Publicity
You can download a printable A4 poster here. Any help with publicity is much appreciated.
Tickets
Follow the links below to book specific tickets. Or visit the ColumbaFest ticket page for all options. Alternatively, you can book by phone on 0141 429 7281 or email at weewonderbox@wildgoose.scot
Adult
- Weekend full access £60.00
- Friday evening only (O Is For Hoolet +The In-Laws) £15.00
- Saturday evening only (Mary Ann Kennedy + Song & Story Ceilidh) £15.00
- Sunday evening only (Margaret McLarty + Ashton Lane) £15.00
- Saturday only full day £27.00
- Sunday only full day £18.00
Concession (Student/ OAP/ Disabled/ Unemployed/ Low Wage)
- Weekend full access £30.00
- Friday evening only (O Is For Hoolet +The In-Laws) £7.50
- Saturday evening only (Mary Ann Kennedy + Ceilidh) £7.50
- Sunday evening only (Margaret McLarty + Ashton Lane) £7.50
- Saturday only full day £14.00
- Sunday only full day £9.00
Child (0-11)
- Weekend full access Free
Youth (12-17)
- Weekend full access £17.50
- Friday evening only (O Is For Hoolet +The In-Laws) £4.00
- Saturday evening only (Mary Ann Kennedy + Ceilidh) £4.00
- Sunday evening only (Margaret McLarty + Ashton Lane) £4.00
- Saturday only full day £8.00
- Sunday only full day £5.50
Youth Group Leader/ Carer
- Weekend full access Free
Follow the links above to book specific tickets. Or visit the ColumbaFest ticket page for all options. Alternatively, you can book by phone on 0141 429 7281 or email at weewonderbox@wildgoose.scot
Times
Friday 9th June 2017 @ 7.00pm – Sunday 11th June @ 10.30pm.
Venues
- The Ground, Iona Community, 21 Carlton Court, Glasgow G5 9JP, Scotland – Saturday all day, Sunday afternoon
- Gorbals Parish Church, 1 Errol Gardens, Glasgow G5 0RA, Scotland – Friday evening, Sunday morning & evening
Access to The Ground is via one step. Inside there is a low-stepped ramp. We are happy to provide assistance.
See the weeWONDERBOX 2016-17 listings page for more information about other events in the programme.
To receive updates of weeWONDERBOX events, sign up to the WGRG/ weeWONDERBOX eNews here.
weeWONDERBOX is a programme of events organised by the Iona Community’s Programme team and the Wild Goose Resource Group.
0141 429 7281