TRACS is Scotland’s collective voice for living heritage: our shared traditions of music, song, dance, storytelling, crafts, customs and local languages. Established in 2012, TRACS is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO SC043009). We incorporate, as our constituent members, three artform Forums: the Scottish Storytelling Forum (est. 1992), the Traditional Music Forum (est. 2004), and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (est. 2014). Recognising that traditional artforms have always interacted, TRACS exists to offer support and shared services to its three Forums and to enhance their impact through a range of projects on cross-cutting themes, cross-artform collaboration, strategic development and collective advocacy for the sector overall. We estimate that across the Forums and their memberships, we represent over 25,000 traditional arts practitioners and participants in communities across Scotland. TRACS has a development and leadership role in enhancing the position of traditional music, dance and storytelling within Scotland’s communities and cultural life. Through our Forums’ distinct yet often interwoven programmes of work, we support the practice of, the increased knowledge of, and access to the traditional arts at all levels. We offer a range of community programmes, workshops, festivals and development support for our practitioner networks, as well as information, resources and learning opportunities for the wider public. We aim to work in sustainable ways, both environmentally and in furthering the transmission of traditional artforms which are an essential part of Scotland’s cultural ecosystem. Focussing on locally-based creativity which reflects a sense of place, we regularly work with communities to celebrate the cultures of their local area or lived experience, including those expressed through Scots, Gaelic, and other local languages. In doing so we promote cultural confidence and inclusion. We also advocate on behalf of the Forums and the sector at local, national and international level in areas such as cultural strategy, community planning and empowerment, health and wellbeing, human rights, and the UNESCO framework for ICH.
Year of accreditation: 2024
Main domain(s) of the ngo’s activities: oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, traditional craftsmanship
Main country where the NGO works: Scotland (UK)
Local, national or international level of the NGO: National
Responsible: Steve Byrne – steve@tracscotland.org
