Where Music Gathers

Aviemore Folk Club

When I arrived at St John’s Episcopal Church in Rothiemurchus, I was welcomed with the kind of warmth that immediately makes a place feel safe and familiar.

There are some community gatherings where you feel, almost straight away, that people are not just attending an event - they are looking after something. That was the feeling at Aviemore Folk Club.

The organisers, Sheena and Dan, were incredibly welcoming and thoughtful from the moment I arrived. They made me feel comfortable, included, and genuinely appreciated, even though I was there quietly with my camera to document the evening.

Before the guest performers took to the floor, there were local musicians sharing songs and music with the room. It gave the evening a very honest feeling: not a stage separated from an audience, but a shared space where people listened closely, encouraged one another, and allowed the music to carry the atmosphere.

This was also an important night for the club. I was told by the organisers that the fundraising from the evening would go to Alzheimer Scotland, which gave the gathering an even deeper sense of purpose. The raffle, the conversations, the music, and the care in the room all felt connected to something meaningful.

The special guests, Irene Watt and Graham White, brought a beautiful presence to the evening. Their performance carried traditional folk music, Gaelic song, storytelling, and a sense of history that seemed to settle gently into the room. It was moving, skilled, and full of feeling.

What stayed with me most was not only the quality of the music, but the atmosphere around it. People were listening. People were smiling. People were present. In a simple community hall, on an ordinary May evening, something quietly beautiful was happening.

Aviemore Folk Club is one of those local gatherings that deserves to be seen, supported, and remembered. It keeps music alive not through spectacle, but through people turning up, sharing songs, raising money for good causes, and creating a space where everyone feels welcome.

I am very grateful to have been welcomed there, and to have had the chance to photograph such a warm and meaningful evening.

Photographed and written by João Talis.