Stonehaven Folk Festival in Scotland goes for “world’s biggest ceilidh band” record

Stonehaven (Scottish Gaelic: Cala na Creige) is a coastal town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The town grew around an Iron Age fishing village, and gradually expanded inland from the seaside. Stonehaven was a Jacobite stronghold at the time of the Jacobite rising of 1715 and this was also the case during the Jacobite rising of 1745. It was one of the north-eastern Scottish ports where reinforcements, plus money and equipment were periodically landed from France in support of the efforts of Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") to regain the throne for the House of Stuart.

Nowadays Stonehaven is also home to the Stonehaven Folk Festival. This year it takes place over four days from Thursday 5th until Sunday 8th July 2018. There are evening concerts at the Town Hall, as well fringe events at various venues around the town. To mark the festival's 30th anniversary attempts are being made to gather together over 250 musicians in order to break the world record for the World's Largest Ceilidh Band. Festival organisers are encouraging musicians to participate and there is no "Audition" as they state that they want to make it as inclusive as possible and also a lot of fun. The attempt will take place on the 6th July at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven and the event will be photographed, videoed and witnessed to conform to the requirements of Guinness World Records. More information for those wanting register as a musician and about the Festival can be seen on their website http://www.stonehavenfolkfestival.co.uk.