Introducing Rumi Festival

Whirling Dervishes to celebrate Rumi Festival in the Scottish Borders

A troupe of dervishes from Turkey will be among the many artists coming together in the Scottish Borders this August, to celebrate the life and poetry of Rumi, at the Beshara School, Chisholme House, Roberton, nr Hawick.
Friday August 2 – Sunday August 4
 
Musicians, writers, poets and dancers will gather for a weekend of performance, art, film and theatre, exploring the legacy of Jalaluddin Rumi, the thirteenth century poet and mystic. This will be a unique event for the Borders, and also marks forty years of the Beshara School at Chisholme House this year.
 
The Festival will open with a solo concert of the hauntingly beautiful ney by Kudsi Erguner, one of the world’s foremost masters of this Turkish reed flute. Award-winning Scottish folk musician Mairi Campbell will be joining the lineup, as well as a Whirling Dervish Sema with musicians direct from Istanbul, who will honour Rumi’s inspiration, while sixties rock legendArthur Brown of Crazy World fame will join the Vastearth Orchestra to perform pieces specially composed for this festival.
 
There will be a books and poetry tent, and writers Alan Williams and Roderick Grierson from the Rumi Institute will present talks, as will Muriel Maufroy, author of the novel Rumi’s Daughter. And British sculptor Emily Young will speak about her internationally renowned carving in stone.
 
Participatory workshops for young people lead by The Young Actors Company, and presentations of tales from Rumi, will provide even more entertainment. The Beshara School is well known for its good food, and the Festival promises to be an enjoyable weekend for families and people of all ages.
 
Yurts and camping facilities are available on the estate, and there will be a shuttle bus from Hawick.
 
Volunteer opportunities at the Festival are still available– to apply please email [email protected]
 
As Rumi himself says: ‘Come, come, whoever you are
 
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving
Ours is not a caravan of despair
Even if you have broken your vows a thousand times
It doesn't matter
Come, yet again, come’
 
The Rumi Festival is hosted by the Beshara School and takes place at Chisholme House and Estate, Roberton, Hawick TD9 7PH
from the evening of Friday 2 August until the evening of Sunday August 4.
 
Tickets are available online at www.rumifestival.org
Tel 01450 880 215 [email protected]

Leave a Comment