The North Carolina Gaelic Mòd will be held on Saturday July 12, 2008 in Linville, North Carolina in association with the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. The Mòd will start at 3:00 pm on Stage Number Three behind Donald's Gaelic Ceilidh Tent. Registration forms may be picked up at Donald's Gaelic Cèilidh Tent at any time during the Games until 2:00 pm on Saturday.

What is a Mòd? A Mòd is a Gaelic song competition for anyone who feels like they want to try their hand (or voice!) at singing a Scottish Gaelic song. We try to keep the competition low key and make it fun for everyone - competitors as well as spectators.

The rules are simple:

1. Sing one Scottish Gaelic song, preferably a slow one like a waulking song, rowing song, lullaby, òran mòr, or lament.

2. The competitors must supply the judge with two copies of the Gaelic words to their songs. They should also supply an English translation.

3. It is preferred that songs be learned by heart prior to the competition without the need to resort to written text.

4. Please keep the songs to a reasonable length.

This year's judges will be announced later.

Last year's judges were Kenna Campbell and Fiona MacKenzie.

Kenna Campbell has combined a long performing career with a deep desire to pass on what she herself has learned to younger generations of performers. A trained teacher, Kenna has acquired a highly-respected combination of authority and experience through formal training and through the traditional musical background that has seen her acknowledged as one of Gaeldom's primary musical and cultural tradition-bearers, hailing from the Isle of Skye and a family of singers and pipers. It would be safe to say that Kenna comes from a very musical family. She won the gold medal at the National Mòd in Scotland, as did her brother and her two daughters. Kenna is principal tutor in Gaelic song at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Fiona MacKenzie is one of the foremost Gaelic singers in the Highlands of Scotland today. She most recently won the prestigious Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod, in Stornoway in October 2005. Fiona from the Highland town of Dingwall in Ross-shire is a fluent Gaelic speaker. She works in education in Dingwall and is particularly influential in her promotion of Gaelic singing in schools in the Highlands. Fiona is the Màiri Mhòr Gaelic Song Fellow for the Highland Council and this work has taken her all over the Highlands & Islands as well as to the United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Wales and Estonia.

For more information, you can e-mail Dr. Jamie MacDonald at jrmacdon@stfx.ca or call 902-867-5426.

You can also contact Libit Woodington at 803-695-0307 or LibitW@aol.com.