On Friday 5th March, the Bagpipe Weekend ceilidh (or folk dance) will be held in the Victory Hall, South Zeal, Devon EX20 2JT, from 8.00 to 11.00pm. The evening will feature a wide variety of English dance music from David Faulkner and the Wren Band, with guest spots from Roberto Tangianu, playing dance music from Sardinia, and local music from the Dartmoor Youth Folk Band. It promises to be an enjoyable evening for all ages. All of the dances will be explained and no experience is necessary. Light refreshments will be available, and people are welcome to bring their own beer or cider, etc.

Tickets for the evening are £8 full price, £5 concessions (full-time students and people in receipt of income-related benefit), available from Wren Music, 1 St James Street, Okehampton, Devon EX20 1DW.

On Saturday 6th March the Bagpipe Weekend concert will be held in Fairplace Church, Fairplace, Okehampton EX20 1DN, commencing at 8.00pm. The concert will be an unrivalled opportunity to hear exquisite artistry in a comfortable venue with excellent acoustics. The concert will feature solo performances by Roberto Tangianu, Nick Scott, and David Faulkner, and David will be joined in a special trio performance by pipers Jon Swayne from Blowzabella and Mike York from Red Dog Green Dog.

Tickets for the concert are £8 full price, £5 concessions.

Although not yet thirty years old, Roberto Tangianu has been playing the traditional Sardinian Launeddas pipes for almost twenty years, and is recognised as a master of the instrument. The Launeddas is one of the most unusual forms of bagpipes, as there is no visible bag for the three reed pipes which make up the instrument. It is the player who must become the bag himself, using the technique of circular breathing to provide a continuous source of air pressure whilst playing. It is an ancient instrument, appearing on carvings in Sardinia dating back to at least the 8th century BC BC and is played for dancing as well as in concert and religious settings. Launeddas music typically uses extensive variations on a few melodic phrases, and a single song can sometimes last over an hour, producing some of the most elemental and resonant sounds in European music.

Devon-based David Faulkner is at the forefront of the English pipe tradition. He has been playing pipes for over 25 years with groups such as the Eeelgrinders and Zephyrus (the English Bagpipe Orchestra). He has toured Europe and America, and has made various recordings including the CD English and Border Music for Pipes with accordionist Steve Turner. He was the winner of the prestigious Trophy for Border Pipes at the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering in 2006 and 2007, and also won the Duo Performance award there in 2007. David has a wide knowledge of English and other traditional British music, as well as great enthusiasm for British and European traditional dance.

Nick Scott began playing the whistle in the late 1970s, and soon after graduated onto the Uilleann Pipes, inspired by the playing of the great piper Mickey Dunne of Limerick. In the 1990s he recorded with multiple award-winning band Show Of Hands, appearing on their Lie Of The Land and Live At The Royal Albert Hall albums. He went on to become a founder member of the popular folk band Last Night's Fun, and in recent years he has toured across Europe and North America with the band. In between tours he has found time to teach on the Folk Music Degree at Newcastle University.

During the day on Saturday 6th March, there will be a series of workshops designed to offer an outstanding opportunity for keen musicians to hone their instrumental skills, and to develop a greater understanding of vibrant musical traditions. The workshops will be held in Fairplace Church Hall, Fairplace, Okehampton, EX20 1DN.

From 10.00am to 1.00pm, Roberto Tangianu and David Faulkner will lead workshops for bagpipers. The morning will include an introduction to the Launeddas pipes and Sardinian music, along with English music and bagpiping techniques. The classes will be for pipes in the key of G. If you have D pipes and would like to join in, please contact David Faulkner and we will see what we can arrange: email david@wrenmusic.co.uk or call 01837 53754.

From 2.00 to 5.00pm all instruments (not just bagpipes) are welcome at the two afternoon repertoire development workshops. Roberto will give a short performance on the Launeddas pipes and teach traditional tunes from Sardinia, and David will teach tunes from both English and Border repertoires.

Advance booking is recommended, as workshop places are limited to ensure all participants receive personal attention. Fees for the workshops are £30 full, £20 concessions for all morning and afternoon, and £15 full, £10 concessions for the morning or afternoon only. For all the Saturday events, tickets are £35 full, £23 concessions.