Talented Fifers come home for festival shows

And over the next week, their talents will be very much on display in the Kingdom, and just across the bridge on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

That’s Saturday (July 23) when Fife favourites Big Country appear at Ingliston’s Royal Highland Centre, supporting those classic rockers Status Quo.

It’s their only appearance on this leg of the Quo’s tour – but for the Big Country boys it’s part of a tour that will take them the length and breadth of the country up until the end of the year, including the Rewind festival on Sunday and a visit to Linlithgow next month.

More information on the the Big Country big tour at www.bigcountry.co.uk/gigs/.

Closer to home, two Fifers feature on St Andrews’ newest festival’s programme.

Byre in the Botanics is designed to take shows that would have been too big for the theatre into the open air and bring more people into the town’s beautiful Botanic Garden.

Fife’s very own Barbara Dickson and Rab Noakes take to the stage tomorrow (Friday).

They’ve been friends for more than 40 years and have plenty of experience playing in folk clubs and concert halls, so this on-stage reunion promises to be full of great music, some fun and lots of memories.

Byre in the Botanics continues with more Scottish music on Saturday when renowned band Capercaillie will bring their own brand of music to St Andrews.

The festival continues until the first weekend in August, with an eclectic mix of theatre, big-screen film, music, opera and dance, with something for all the family in the programme.

Checkout www.standrewsbyreinthebotanics.com for more information.

Another festival is under way in Fife – the Crail festival, and it is turning it’s attention to another two Fifers.

Actor Clive Russell, whose oeuvre encompases everything from Rab C Nesbitt to Game of Thrones via Coronation Street (in three different roles), is a Fifer who now makes home in the East Neuk.

He demonstrated his love of verse at an appearance at StAnza, the St Andrews-based international poetry festival.

This year he’ll be at the Crail festival to reveal his Desert Island Poems.

He’ll be reading and discussing his favourite verse, to the accompaniment of harpist Rachel Newton, and audiences can enjoy afternoon tea and a glass of Prosecco with the pair.

That’s on July 27, and later the same day Kirkcaldy’s very own Val McDermid gets into festival mode.

With a vast number of novels under her belt, she will be discussing the genre with another Fifer, Russel D McLean.

He is fellow crime writer rapidly gaining in reputation, with half a dozen or more novels and short stories already published.

Crail Festival runs until July 30 and the full programme is available at www. crailfestival.com.