Shetland Arts is delighted to announce the line-up for Mareel's Official Opening Season, which runs from October to December this year. Acts already announced for kicking off Opening Season include The Wonderful World of Cerys Matthews, the Shetland Community Orchestra, and Slam. The following three months will see a diverse range of acts, both visiting and local.
Highlights include Vic Galloway Presents, which is the first in a series of regular music showcase concerts hosted by BBC Radio 1 & Radio Scotland DJ Vic Galloway, followed by a DJ set by the man himself, The Shetland Guitar Festival with headliners Stuart McCallym and Aziz Ibrahim, the return of DJ Kutski, a foot-stomping performance by Danish folk band Himmerland, Scottish duo Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, and of course, the ever popular Happy Mondays.
Plans are taking shape for celebrations over the weekend of 16 – 18 November to mark the moment of Mareel's Opening. Popular Scottish indie-band, Aberfeldy - described by The Scotsman as “one of the most winningly diverse bands to emerge in recent years” - will entertain audiences on the Friday night with support from singer-songwriter Chris Bradley, and Saturday will see the culmination of a week-long celebration linking Mareel with musicians from all over Shetland as well as from across the ocean.
Shetland Meets Appalachia – an exploration of our common musical roots features American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer Bruce Molsky alongside special Shetland guests including Gary Peterson, Maurice Henderson, Maggie Adamson, Sheila Henderson, Brian Nicholson, the Cullivoe Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers, Lynda Anderson, and more. Workshops will take place all week in schools across Shetland, as well as a Saturday workshop in Mareel, culminating in concerts on Thursday 15 in Muckle Roe, Friday 16 in Cullivoe, and finally, Saturday 17 in Mareel.
Sunday 18 will see Dougie MacLean, Scotland's pre-eminent singer-songwriter, take to the stage. Perhaps his most famous composition is the near anthemic Caledonia – a song that has been covered by over 200 artists world-wide, including the likes of Ronan Keating, Frankie Miller, Paolo Nutini and Amy MacDonald. The song has even had a whisky named in its honour.
But Dougie is most certainly not a one-song-wonder – a fact supported by the many gold discs and other international awards and accolades he has collected throughout his career. Dougie tours globally on a regular basis, selling out large concerts the world over including venue's such as New York's famed Carnegie Hall. He was recently awarded an OBE for his contribution to music in the New Year's Honours List
Director of Shetland Arts, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce such a packed programme of high-quality events for Official Opening Season at Mareel. We have had a huge amount of interest so far and we expect that things will only get busier in the run up to the festive season.”
Also during Opening Season, Shetland Arts will be launching Mareel's much-anticipated cinema promotions – Gold & Silver Cards, Family & Friends Discount, and Ten4Nine.
As a special Opening Season promotion Mareel will be offering customers a one-time only Gold/Silver Card Taster Package. This is a three month package allowing customers to see how the Mareel Gold or Silver Card fits their lifestyle, without having to commit to a full 12 month contract straight away.
Customers pay for three months up front (£45 for the Gold Card, £30 for the Silver Card) and receive use of their card for three months from the date of that payment (this could be any time from October to December). After three months Shetland Arts will get in touch to see if they want to commit to the full 12 month contract.
The Gold Card gives customers access to unlimited film at Mareel for just £15 a month. The Silver Card gives customers access to unlimited off-peak film at Mareel for £10 a month. A valid Gold Card entitles customers to one seat for any 2D film screening, subject to availability and one seat for any 3D film screening at a significantly discounted rate (£1 per screening, glasses must be purchased separately or brought to screening, glasses cost £1). This also applies to the Silver Card, but only for off-peak times. Off-peak is defined as all day Monday to Wednesday, before 5pm on Thursday and Friday, and before 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday.
The Family & Friends Discount allows groups with two children or more and one adult or more to all pay children's prices for any U, PG, or 12A film. Adults are defined as aged 16 and above and children are 15 and below. Ten4Nine is a special group booking discount for any customers buying 10 tickets in one purchase for a single event: buy ten tickets for the cost of nine.