FOR the first time this year, the Dunfermline based Outwith Festival is launching a brand new strand of Gaelic & Scots events with wide appeal for Gaelic Speakers and non-Gaelic Speakers alike.

With regular appearances on BBC Scotland, BBC Alba and BBC nan Gaidheal, Hugh Dan MacLennan, the Gaelic voice of Shinty and Football, is presenting a football event, in partnership with Dunfermline Athletic.

This two-hour interactive workshop at East End Park is for anyone who watched football on BBC Alba and wondered what the hell was going on! The session will be delivered in English, and will give the participants the opportunity to learn key phrases used in commentating as well as some they can use at the next match they go to!

Norrie McIver, described by Runrig as ‘the Gaelic cross-over voice of his generation’ will be singing and performing on Friday night and Paul Kavannagh, the man behind the ‘Wee Ginger Dug’ column in The National, will be doing a talk on Fife in English with some elements in Scots and Gaelic.

Kirsty Strachan, Gaelic Development Officer with Fife Council, who helped introduce the events to Outwith Festival, explained: “Indeed, all the events are designed for non-Gaelic speakers as well as those more fluent in the language. People often don’t realise how much Gaelic is part of our history and language in Fife. There are over 3,000 Gaelic speakers in Fife, one in every 30 Gaelic speakers lives and works in Fife.”

The gaelic events include Tuesday 3 September 10:30-11am Scots and Gaelic Bookbug at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries. take along the bairns for some songs and a story, nae language skills needed - a h-uile duine fàilte! 11:15am Strùpag - a cuppa and a blether aboot Gaelic everyone welcome

7-9.30pm Paul Kavannagh - Leids O Fife/ Cànanan nam Fìobha - an introduction to the languages that have shaped Fife and the signs they have left behind by the man behind the Wee Ginger Dug column in The National. This session will be in English, with Scots and Gaelic. A great evening for those interested in Fife, history, geography, landscape and heritage.

Wednesday 4 September

7pm-8.30pm Peter MacKay - Gaelic Poetry for Grown Ups! - An introduction to Gaelic poetry, and the more seductive side of the Gaels! Strictly for adults, this evening will challenge perceptions of language and literature and love.

Thursday 5 September

7-9pm Storytelling with Bev Bryant, Glamourie at the Kingsgate Shopping Centre; Stories o Fife and Beyond - whoever said stories are fur bairns has never listened to the traditional tales told by Glamourie; traditional tales told wi Scots and Gaelic and Clarsach. These are NOT bedtime stories, sometime dark, sometimes heartbreaking, always brilliantly told.

11-12:30 Gaelic Singing workshop with Norrie MacIver - Dell Farquharson centre .