The first Edinburgh Harp Festival in 1982 was the brainchild of John Hoare and Mike Stevens of Pilgrim Harps. They planned it to coincide with Edinburgh’s International Folk Festival, sharing premises with them in Teviot House, where there were two workshops, a Harpmakers’ Exhibition and a class for beginners. There was one concert, sold out well in advance, in Bedlam Theatre: “An Evening with the Celtic Harp”. The performers, from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales were Billy Jackson, Tony Cuffe and John Martin (clarsach, guitar and fiddle), Savourna Stevenson and Sean O’Rourke (clarsach and flute), Dafydd and Gwyndaf Roberts (triple harp and clarsach) and Bonnie Shaljean (wire and gut strung harps).