Celebrating 20 years of music in the unique and intimate venues of Fife’s East Neuk

The East Neuk Festival in Fife is beginning two years of celebrations, for the 20th anniversary of its founding in 2024, and the 20th festival in 2025. In the past two decades it has presented more than 400 events featuring nearly 3000 performers playing to a total audience of just over 200,000 people in the unique and intimate venues of Fife’s East Neuk (the fishing villages of the most northerly part of the Firth of Forth). 

The 2024 festival programme includes musicians from 18 nations converging on East Neuk for a five-day feast of live music, from 26-30 June, ranging from classical to jazz, experimental, traditional and contemporary

This year's festival has a Czech flavour to some events, welcoming the Pavel Haas Quartet (in its UK debut) and Belfiato Wind Quintet playing five generations of Czech masters including Haas, Janáček, Suk, Reicha and Smetana. But there is also Japanese pianist Hisako Kawamura playing Akio Yashiro’s Sonata for Piano, Scandinavian quartet Opus 13 in Andrea Tarrodi and Grieg. 

Other visitors include pianist Boris Giltburg, bassist Renaud Garcia Fons with his alternative ‘string quartet’ featuring Qanun player Serkan Halili, flamenco guitarist Kiko Ruiz and kemenche player Derya Turkan, harpists, Catrin Finch, Esther Swift and Margret Köll, Irish fiddler Aoife Ni Bhriain, recorder player Stefan Temmingh, and clarinettist Julian Bliss and his septet.

The festival is collaborating with the Scottish Fisheries Museum to celebrate and explore the history of the Zulu fishing boats that were once ubiquitous on Scotland’s coasts. Harpist/composer Esther Swift will create a new piece for community and professional musicians which will be premiered in the Museum’s dramatic gallery which holds what remains of the largest surviving Zulu boat.

Full details from the festival website.