Maia Vidal

When Falkirk council announced it was to launch an arts festival in 2000, few expected more than the usual mix of crusty folk musicians, children's puppet shows and that samba band who haven't put down their drums since 1992. But Big in Falkirk is anything but the typical small-town festival. Among Scottish festivals outside Edinburgh, it is unique. Located in the sprawling 180-acre Callendar Park, it attracts crowds of 100,000 from all over Scotland and the north of England for what is a heady mix of colourful outdoor theatre, spectacular pyrotechnics, art, comedy and a curious but clever mishmash of music acts, some of whom are well known, others who are still only big in Falkirk. For the second year the festival will incorporate a visual art programme. The Environmental Art Project, curated by the installation artist Guyan Porter, has been designed specially for Callendar Park. Students from the environmental art course at the Glasgow School of Art will build installations in the forest park and around a section of the historic Antonine Wall. This, though, is just the calm before the storm. The festival closes on Sunday night with the world premiere of Full Circle, a new show by the pyrotechnicians The World Famous. In what promises to be a visual feast that Jean Michel Jarre would be proud of, Slovenian musicians Terrafolk will perform in specially designed pods while fire, fireworks and special effects light up the night sky behind Callendar House. “It's the sort of show that Falkirk does very well,” says Butler. “The performers are some of the best at what they do in the world, so it's very challenging and exciting to watch, but it's also something that can be enjoyed by the whole family.”
- The Times UK

Nothing could have prepared us for what was about to happen. Enter Terrafolk to take the festival by storm. The eccentric, highly talented Slovenian four-piece won the audience over straight from the start. It was five minutes of pure musical theatre, with, in the middle, a grand entrance of a special guest top Slovenian classical violinist Anja Bukovec. If Terrafolk were to steal the show, and Bojan stole our minds, Anja stole our hearts. Perfect. - Shetland Times

The Slovenian monsters of folk arrived on stage 20 minutes late in true Rock ‘n’ Roll fashion. A huge crowd was crammed into the glorious Spiegeltent by this time buzzing with anticipation, ready to witness what has become a ‘must see’ show at the Festival. Terrafolk do not display any of the stony faced seriousness that many traditional acts posses; their tongues are firmly in their cheeks, only making an appearance when either one of the four band members decides to unleash theirs in order to pull a rock star facial expression. The abundance of musical talent and diverse influences within the band combined together wonderfully tonight, making their opening gig of this year’s festival one that the sell out crowd will never forget. tw rating: 5/5 - Threeweeks Magazine

WITH no shortage of maverick musical ensembles performing at the Fringe, it takes something a bit special to stand out from the crowd. Slovenia’s Terrafolk have it in spades. The four-piece are clearly supremely talented musicians, able to turn their hands to anything from classical, jazz, folk, pop and even tango during the space of a sparkling set. But the band - paying a third successive visit to Edinburgh - also make the tricky task of entertaining an audience at the same time as handling the most complicated of arrangements look virtually effortless. Within seconds of their arrival on stage they had the audience captivated by their virtuoso musicianship, offbeat humour and charming audience interaction. Formed just five years ago, Terrafolk, who won the BBC Awards for World Music audience prize last year, deploy the accordion, mandolin, double bass and guitar to produce a richly textured sound which always seems to veer off in an unexpected direction. During one tune, fiddler Mike Rofone managed to seamlessly weave in a rousing version of Scotland the Brave, even though he was playing his instrument upside down with the bow gripped between his knees. The band gave the term grand finale a whole new meaning, with an encore which saw the entire audience follow them out into the Spiegelgarden, where the show was brought to a triumphant close - followed by a backwards bow. - Evening News

"It's not often that a new group has the audience whooping and clapping within minutes but that was what happened last week when Slovenian band Terrafolk played at Bristol's Tantric Jazz Cafe. it was a superb gig of exhilarating foot-stomping tunes that had every one calling for more."
(Susie Weldon, Western Daily Press, Bristol) - Western Daily Press

Of all ex-Yugoslav republics Slovenia has made least impact on the world music scene. And then in 2003 a band called Terrafolk seemingly appeared from nowhere and walked away with the audience award at the BBC Radio 3 awards for world music. Anyone who was lucky enough to catch them live at one of their triumphant UK dates in 2003 will know that Terrafolk live up to their name. Central and South European music played with an attitude to terrorise the complete authentic folk brigade. The instruments may be acoustic but the attitude is pure punk. Enthusiastic energy is a fantastic virtue on stage, but the one question was how this would translate onto record. Well the energy tangential humour and virtuosity are all there. Terrafolk on record are a lot better that I had imagined. The connection to the land and the declaration of intent in their name I got and plenty I didn’t expect at all multi-layered instrumentation. Tastefully chosen material, good production and the variety of moods and styles. Uptempo original and traditional tunes are done with a rip-roaring power worthy of Kennedy, slower ballads come with a cheeky nod and a wink, Bulgarian harmonies are arranged with gorgeous understatement, and there’s even a beautiful and Kitsch Latin number with genius deadpan ‘come to bed mama’ vocals. Everything is respected but nothing is sacred – Bregovic’s standard ‘Mesecina’ comes out like a 70s Bavaria tourist board commercial. Brilliant. - Songlines

Already the 6th edition of Folkwoods. But still the organization manages to show us surprising, new bands. This edition it was undoubtedly Terrafolk. Luckily, the organization doesn’t hesitate to let successful bands return, such as now Garmarna, the Transsylvanians and Ambrozijn. That means that, with a little luck, we will be able to enjoy Terrafolk again next year. Strongly musically playing they know how to build a party, with lots of sense of humor. Irresistable Eastern-European sounds that of course have many gypsy-influences. Also, they draw form other music plentyfully. For example, You Are My Sunshine and Jump pass by. Also Mozart is not forgotten. Let’s say Eine Kleine Folkmusik. The audience too was blazingly enthousisastic, and the band could come back for a second ‘encore’, while the soundcheck on the mainstage was being concluded. Hopefully again next year. - Folkwoods