2025 was another successful year for the Pomegranates Festival, which ran from 25th to 30th April. The packed five-day programme of traditional dance, saw ticket sales up by 40% on 2024; a sold-out Ceilidh Plus event mixing Scottish, Hungarian and Polish social dancing; and a packed house for Charlotte McLean’s new not for glory dance theatre gig piece, brought to life by the incredible sure footing of Irish traditional dancer Jack Anderson and music from Malin Lewis.
Emma Ready, and Sean Edwards performing in Hidden Faces – this year’s festival finale
The Pomegranates Festival celebrates Scottish and world traditional dance practised by anyone, including cultural migrant communities across Scotland. Now in its fourth year, the festival has grown from a two-day showcase of work performed by local dancers, into a five-day festival of workshops, exhibitions, walking tours, debates and a showcase for new work.
Marking UNESCO International Dance Day on 29 April, this year’s festival finale Hidden Faces, was a powerful example of the strength of workshopping that the festival has anchored in its programme from the outset. The piece – a hip hop dance theatre tribute to the masked trad dances from around the world – was created across 2 intensive days, choreographed by 2 guest artists – hip hop dancer and clowning theatre practitioner Sean Edwards, and Scotland’s only professional B-girl Emma Ready; performed by 15 dancers and 3 musicians all based in Scotland; and produced with direction from Jonzi D, founder of Breakin’ Convention, MC, spoken word artist and hip hop dancer.
Other new work that premiered this year was the festival commission Sequins – a hip hop piece fused with Congolese traditional Luba dance by Kalubi Mukengela-Jacoby, a Belgian Scot dance artist with Congolese heritage who choreographed and performed her solo to another festival commission Sequins of Poems to Dance To, a set of 10 poems written and spoken by broadcaster Ian McMillan with a haunting soundscape by Robert Russell.
One of the festival themes this year was masks, and the dancers took inspiration from the exhibition Masks by Lorraine Pritchard which was on display in the Storytelling Centre and the Edinburgh Central Library. The exhibition included handcrafted Venetian style masks, books on the Venice Carnival and a collection of photos and newly-commissioned documentary film by Franzis Sánchez shot at this year’s Carnival and at various locations across Edinburgh.
Audiences also enjoyed a lively discussion following the screening of ten short films by home-grown and international teams of choreographers and cinematographers with an innovative focus of traditional dance on screen; a fantastic new piece of contemporary dance rooted in traditional dance and music Socratic Circles workshopped with pupils from Royal Mile and Abbeyhill local primary school, and postgraduate dance students from Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh; and a new podcast and a sold-out walking tour of Edinburgh with historian and dancer Alena Schmakova exploring Mary, Queen of Scots’ passion for dance.
Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova, co-curators and producers of the Pomegranates Festival said:
“We couldn’t be happier with this new edition of Pomegranates. It is really rewarding, also on behalf of the 100s of the dance artists featured and our new and returning guests, to know that the festival has earned its unique place in Edinburgh’s cultural calendar and is treasured by anyone passionate about trad dance and its links to poetry and art, film and fashion, craft and heritage. We are proud that through this year’s 3 festival themes – trad dance, masks and intangible cultural heritage – we were able to focus on the fine examples of already recognised living heritage, such as the Hungarian Csardas and Buso, Polish Polonaise, Chinese Yi cultural dance and the world heritage site of Venice and its Carnival. We are determined to build on the festival success of convening Scotland’s first-ever gathering about traditional dance and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. Watch this space as we continue to explore the opportunities this 2003 UNESCO Convention opens up for Scotland’s traditional dances in an international context.”
The Pomegranates Festival plans to return in spring 2026 with a new five-day programme of Scottish and world traditional dance. Dates to be confirmed.
The Pomegranates Festival is initiated and curated by Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and presented and produced in partnership with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Supported by Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding programme through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) and Edinburgh Local Community Fund through the University of Edinburgh,
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More information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
Established in 2014,Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is the only national organisation of its kind dedicated to the advancement of all forms of traditional and social dance. It advocates for and supports the diverse Scottish and world trad dance forms practised in Scotland ranging from Ceilidh to Old Time, Swing to Hip Hop as an integral part of our global intangible cultural heritage. It provides free membership to over 250 traditional dance artists and organisations and supports them through three major routes – productions, residencies and festivals such as Pomegranates. A registered charity (SCIO SC045085) and a founding member of Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland (TRACS) www.tdfs.org
TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland) (SCIO, SC043009) is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. TRACS celebrates the local distinctiveness of Scotland’s places: our intangible cultural heritage. TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum (SCIO SC042867), the Scottish Storytelling Forum (SCIO SC052330) and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (SCIO SC045085). Supported by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council. www.tracscotland.org
Moray House School of Education and Sport has been making a major contribution to the fields of education and sport for 175 years. Moray House staff, students and alumni have influenced, improved and transformed learning, teaching and policy worldwide. The innovative and unique Master’s in Dance Science and Education gives dancers the scientific theory and specialist skills to push the frontiers of dance and dance education.
Moray House School of Education and Sport
Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity (CREID)
MSc Dance Science and Education
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com and the social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. More about the value of art and creativity in Scotland at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
