Traditional arts, crafts, music, storytelling and community practice will come together in Edinburgh this May as TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) launches its Living Heritage Discovery Day at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Taking place on 10 May 2026, the free public event will celebrate Scotland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – the traditions, skills, customs and cultural practices passed down from generation to generation and celebrated in our daily lives.
Organised by TRACS, the day-long programme invites people of all ages to experience Scotland’s living traditions first-hand through workshops, performances, conversations and participatory activities.
Held at Scottish Storytelling Centre, the event reflects growing national momentum around the recognition and safeguarding of Living Heritage following the UK’s ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2024 and the first call for submissions to the UK’s Inventories of Living Heritage.
Visitors can explore a Living Heritage Fayre featuring organisations such as as Creative Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland and Heritage Crafts UK, as well as practitioners and community groups working across traditional dance, music, storytelling, crafts and folklore. A series of “Come & Try” sessions will offer hands-on introductions to traditional practices, encouraging people not just to observe heritage, but actively participate in it, from Scottish Country Dance to traditional cordage making and beginners sessions in Scots and Gaelic, as well as a chance to try the clàrsach.
A highlight of the programme will be a special afternoon event with Irish folklorist and digital archivist Michael Fortune, whose acclaimed folklore.ie project documents vernacular traditions, oral history and everyday cultural life across Ireland. His appearance will explore shared approaches to safeguarding tradition in Ireland and the role communities play in sustaining cultural memory.
The day concludes with a traditional House Cèilidh, an informal gathering of shared music, song and storytelling designed to embody Living Heritage in action: participatory, intergenerational and community-led.
The event also marks an important moment for Scotland’s developing Living Heritage movement. TRACS was recently appointed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as one of the UK’s official Community Support Hubs for Intangible Cultural Heritage, helping communities engage with the emerging UK-wide Living Heritage Inventories.
Living Heritage, also known as Intangible Cultural Heritage, encompasses practices ranging from storytelling and seasonal customs to crafts, social rituals, traditional games, languages and food traditions. Rather than being confined to museums or archives, it exists through active participation and shared community knowledge.
The Living Heritage Discovery Day is free to attend and open to all, with drop-in activities running throughout the day, part of Edinburgh Tradfest.
Living Heritage Discovery Day
Sunday 10 May 2026 | At the Scottish Storytelling Centre
The Day’s Schedule in brief
- Living Heritage Fayre, 10am-1.30pm
- Come & Try Sessions, 10:30am-1:30pm
- An Afternoon with Michael Fortune of folklore.ie, 2pm-3:30pm
- TRACS House Cèilidh, 4pm-6pm
More information can be found on the TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) website.
