As a founding member of TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), which in July 2024 was officially appointed as UNESCO Advisor on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), often referred to as living heritage, we believe that the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland could play a major role in celebrating the diversity of traditional dance practised around the country.
Whether it is through our Pomegranates Festival, Ceilidh Plus events, or all-year-round activities, we aim to safeguard the age-old dance traditions and ensure they thrive in the contemporary, diverse Scotland we all call home.
Our Pomegranates Festival 25-30 April 2025 was themed around traditional dance and intangible cultural heritage in anticipation of the time when Scotland’s communities would be invited to nominate their favourite traditions to be included on an official living heritage list. Submissions for the list will be encouraged from all sectors of society, including traditional dance communities and people who have brought dance traditions from overseas to the UK.
On the eve of UNESCO International Dance Day, 28 April 2025, we gathered for an evening of blether about the UNESCO 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage. For the first time, we publicly discussed the new opportunities for Scotland’s traditional dances in an international context. We pledged to keep up the conversation and ensure that the Pomegranates Festival continues to provide an annual platform for discussing issues of traditional dance as living heritage.
Follow the growing trad dance as ICH events and resources below. Better still, register now and become a member of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to ensure you can influence the trad dance as ICH discussion.
