Releasing Seals to Freedom with Music!

Posted on by David Myles

Enjoy this very special live stream, in collaboration with the Sealcenter Pieterburen (Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen), from a sandbank in the Wadden Sea. This is because of a special occasion: three seals taken in by the Sealcenter are allowed to return to nature. Rapalje will take them to sea and play towards the moment of release.

Both Rapalje and Pieterburen are Groningen crowd favourites who have been able to reach thousands of people with various live streams in recent months. During this, a combination of live acoustic music and conversations about seals and the mudflats will be broadcast. The combination of seals and music is not very far-fetched. This summer, the Sealcenter will open an exhibition dedicated to the language and sense of rhythm of seals.

The cooperation between the Sealcenter Pieterburen and Rapalje is a striking one, but there are two nice similarities. First, both of them had been able to reach thousands of people through live streams of music or seals being cared for throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Second, seals and music have more in common than people generally assume. Seals have been proven to have a sense of rhythm and can “parrot”!

Precisely now pups are born at a certain location in the Wadden Sea that require intensive care from their mother for a few weeks. This bond is often broken due to disruption. Rapalje would like to make sure that these animals get well again.

Collector’s Items in our webshop!

Posted on by Franca de Vrind

As Maceál already told during Keltfest Online, we have found some old and rare pieces of merchandise. Test DVDs, mini CDs and more that are all in perfect condition but have never been in our webshop. We are now going to sell all these items and we have all signed them! Be quick because of most of them only a few are available and these will never be for sale again!

Collector’s Items: https://rapalje.com/product-category/one-of-a-kind/

Rapalje re-opens WILDLANDS!

Posted on by Franca de Vrind

We have already visited many special locations during our live streams, but Monday May 25th will certainly be one of the highlights of our career. Due to the COVID-19 situation, WILDLANDS Adventure Zoo Emmen (NL) had to close its doors for a long time. As from Monday, this beautiful park will be open to the public again and we will play during this festive moment! Watch the live stream at 10:00 am (CET) or watch it back later; it will certainly be unforgettable. Would you like to visit WILDLANDS? Then go to https://www.wildlands.nl/ and reserve a day for your visit. And to support us, get your ‘ticket’ for this livestream at: https://rapalje.com/stream/

Let’s celebrate that this is a cautious step in the right direction and hopefully we can experience more and more of these wonderful moments together (online or in person). Be easy and free!

Haal je eigen Cooking Highlander maaltijd in huis!

Posted on by Franca de Vrind

Heb jij gisteren ook zo lopen watertanden bij het heerlijke eten dat ons werd voorgeschoteld tijdens de livestream? Als je in Groningen en omgeving woont kun je volgende week al genieten van je eigen echte Cooking Highlander maaltijd! Ga naar https://www.warehousebbq.nl/ en zie hoe jij de lekkerste bbq gerechten van Nederland in huis haalt! Wij gaan binnenkort zeker weer langs in ieder geval.

A dinershow with Rapalje!

Posted on by Rutger

A dinershow with Rapalje!

Will you join us for dinner this Saturday? Then, we will go to ‘Warehouse BBQ’, an initiative of The Cooking Highlander: one of the most famous event caterers in our country. For years they have brought their their famous BBQ to not only our Zomerfolk festival, but also Castlefest, Zwarte Cross, Mañaña Mañaña, Noorderzon and many more. Due to the current COVID-19 crisis, they have, just like us, seen event after event being cancelled. However, they are not sitting still and have come up with the idea to have a barbecue for the city and “Ommeland” (a nickname for the areas of the province of Groningen that lie outside of the city) from their storage and kitchen in Groningen. On Saturday May 16 we give a livestream dinner show at 4:00 pm (CET) with delicious food and lots of music of course! Enjoy your meal!

Date: Saturday May 16th
Start: 16:00
Where: online
Cost: free but we really appreciate a donation via www.rapalje.com/stream

Together we can help!

Posted on by Franca de Vrind
The culture industry is struggling. Many of our bookers have already had to let staff go or know that they have to do this soon, because the events and concerts they normally organize cannot take place this year. As a band we depend on these parties and owe a lot to them. That is why David started a crowdfunding. With these proceeds we hope to support at least some organisations, theaters, bands, stages,etc.: will you help? On our website we will regularly provide updates on who we can give how much, so that you know where your contribution will end up.

Back to school with Rapalje!

Posted on by Rutger

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH RAPALJE!

New live stream on Friday, May 8 at 4:00 PM (CET): www.rapalje.com/stream
Due to the current circumstances, not only education is seriously disrupted. Artists also are going through tough times and need to change their compass. For example, there have already been a large number of online concerts by both national and international musicians and the (online) creativity knows no boundaries. Rapalje wouldn’t be Rapalje if we didn’t come up with something new!

On Friday, May 8th, in preparation of the reopening of Dutch schools, an alternative online lesson will be given from primary school De Westerburcht in Eelde, led by no other than four enthusiastic teachers with an unadulterated Highlander profile.

We have put together a tight curriculum with the following components:
– How do the instruments of Rapalje work and what is, for example, a Low Whistle, Gitouki or accordion?
– How about those costumes: does all of Scotland wear a skirt?
– Geography and history: crash course about Scotland and Ireland

The connecting factor is of course music! The phrase “Let the cobbler stick to his last” applies here. In the curriculum various Rapalje songs are included and applied to the situation of the youngest among us. The dreamer, the doer and the thinker: we’ll conquer you all with our unconventional and quirky range of lessons!

Your favourite sailor songs @ a lake

Posted on by Rutger

We will go sailing on a boat with you! Come along and enjoy the waves, while we go through our repertoire to see which sailor songs we can play for you. Drunken Sailor, Irish Rover, Skye Boat Song; these are of course a ‘must’ but we will play a lot more!

See if we can keep it dry during this live stream on Saturday, May 2nd at 17:00.
You can buy a ‘ticket’ for this livestream or for the effort we take to bring all this live music to you: what you pay for this ticket is totally up to you!

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Rapalje Zomerfolk definitely to 2021

Posted on by Rutger

Good evening,

We have decided that Rapalje Zomerfolk cannot continue this year.

We have tried to find an opportunity to keep Zomerfolk in 2020, but unfortunately that is not feasible. We are unable to organize a successful event on the chosen date in September. There are a lot of people who are cooperating to make the festival a success and unfortunately the puzzle falls apart on (too) many fronts. Various exhibitors and bands are not allowed, technicians have other projects, volunteers are unable to attend. We don’t want to compromise on the quality of our beautiful festival. We cannot help but skip our festival this year 2020. It is such a fantastic festival for us and we hope you all come on June 5 and 6, 2021. We are having a very difficult time with Rapalje with many uncertainties and we try to give you a nice moment every week with our live streams! www.rapalje.com/stream

Purchased tickets: all tickets will remain valid for the festival in 2021 and this will be a great edition where we will celebrate our anniversary. If you are unable to use the weekend of 5 and 6 June 2021, we offer you the opportunity to convert the tickets into a credit for other concerts and events where we perform.

Be healthy, easy and free