Islay distillery team to stage virtual ‘Fèis at Home’ celebration after Fèis Ìle cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic
THE team at Bunnahabhain distillery aims to help whisky fans celebrate Fèis Ìle in spirit after the annual Islay festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bunnahabhain’s virtual ‘Fèis at Home’ event on Friday May 29 on Bunnahabhain’s Facebook page will seek to transport viewers to the Isle of Islay via a special live tasting of two new festival editions, details of which are due to be revealed soon. Tasting kits are available to buy from the Bunnahabhain website so people can join in the tasting from their homes.
Kicking off at 8pm on May 29, the live stream will be hosted by whisky writer Dave Broom, who will join Bunnahabhain distillery manager Andrew Brown, master blender Julianne Fernandez, master distiller Stephen Woodcock and visitor centre manager Dr Billy Sinclair; the group will lead whisky fans through a tasting and take part in a panel discussion about the two limited edition expressions being released to mark the occasion.
Ahead of the tasting, visitor centre manager Dr Billy Sinclair will take viewers on a Facebook tour of the distillery and island. The first tour kicks off at 10am on Friday May 29 when details of a competition to win a trip to next year’s festival will be announced.
Andrew Brown, distillery manager at Bunnahabhain, which is part of Distell’s portfolio, said: “We’ll miss seeing some familiar faces in person, but Fèis Ìle is always warm and welcoming, so we’re embracing the fact that live streaming technology will allow even more people to join in this year.
“We’ve got a great panel of experts on board to talk through our wonderful new festival editions, and anyone who’s visited Fèis Ìle before will know that’s not all we’ve got up our sleeve. You’ll have to tune in to find out more, but we can guarantee a memorable festival, even if it’s not running exactly as we had planned.”
Bunnahabhain’s virtual Fèis at Home events will take place on Friday May 29 at : www.facebook.com/Bunnahabhain
Live streams from the distillery on Islay will take place at 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6.30pm followed by the virtual tasting and panel discussion at 8pm.
