TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland)

What TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) does

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO SC043009) operating as a co-operative network that champions Scotland's shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs, and indigenous languages. It was founded in 2012 as the umbrella body for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (established 1989) and now brings together two artform forums—the Traditional Music Forum of Scotland and the Scottish Storytelling Forum—alongside networks for traditional dance and crafts. TRACS operates from the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a purpose-built venue opened in 2006 at 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh.

The organisation's core products and services span a portfolio of programmes rather than a unified technology offering: the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (annual since 1989), the Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursaries (£1,500 awards), Essential Skills Workshops for Traditional Musicians, the North Atlantic Song Convention, the ICH Scotland Partnership Conference, and the Living Heritage Discovery Day. In 2024 TRACS was appointed by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport as one of the UK's official Intangible Cultural Heritage Community Support Hubs and was recognised by UNESCO as an accredited NGO advisor on ICH, formalising a national coordination role for Scotland's Living Heritage Inventory process.

TRACS is a non-profit funded primarily through Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding (a 3-year award from 2025), a City of Edinburgh Council revenue grant, Scottish Government Expo Funding for the Storytelling Festival, and UK DCMS funding via the Living Heritage initiative. Its primary customer segments are traditional artists and practitioners, community groups and tradition bearers, and the general public interested in Scottish cultural heritage. The organisation is led by CEO Steve Byrne and Board Chair Andrew Bachell, with a small core team of 6 employees supported by contracted artists, partner organisations, and a distributed network of members.

Name

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland)

Legal name

Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland

Website

https://tracscotland.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is a Scottish charitable co-operative network that coordinates, advocates for, and safeguards Scotland's traditional arts and intangible cultural heritage. It serves artists, tradition bearers, community groups, and the public through festivals, forums, and a UK Living Heritage Support Hub.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK), Cultural Centers & Multidisciplinary Arts Institutions (THAJADAJ), Cultural Heritage & Traditional Festivals (Folk, Ethnic, Indigenous) (MPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Cultural heritage advocacy
• Traditional arts coordination
• Intangible cultural heritage
• Storytelling festival programming
• Community arts support

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland: Core operational funding awarded by Creative Scotland in 2025 for a 3-year programme celebrating and advocating for Scotland's traditional arts in communities across the country.
2. City of Edinburgh Council Revenue Grant: Revenue grant support from the City of Edinburgh Council to support organizational operations.
3. Scottish Government Expo Funding: Festival Expo Fund from the Scottish Government supporting the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.
4. UK Government DCMS Funding: Department for Culture, Media and Sport engagement through the Living Heritage initiative.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

TRACS is a cooperative network that champions Scotland's traditional arts and intangible cultural heritage, delivering an annual storytelling festival, a dedicated storytelling venue, national artform forums (music and storytelling), a Community Support Hub for the UK Living Heritage Inventory, bursary programmes, training workshops, and heritage conferences. Its activities are designed to support practitioners, build community participation, and coordinate the traditional arts sector across Scotland.

Product overview

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) is a cooperative network organization that champions Scotland's traditional arts and intangible cultural heritage. Rather than a unified software product, TRACS operates a portfolio of interconnected programs and services including: the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (annual autumn festival since 1989), the Scottish Storytelling Centre (physical venue in Edinburgh), the Traditional Music Forum of Scotland and Scottish Storytelling Forum (national network organizations), Living Heritage Support Hub services, and various funding programs such as the Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursaries. TRACS also organizes training workshops, conferences including the Intangible Cultural Heritage Scotland Conference and North Atlantic Song Convention, and community events like Living Heritage Discovery Day. These offerings work together to promote, safeguard, and celebrate Scotland's living heritage traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs, and indigenous languages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF): An annual festival celebrating live oral storytelling through performances, workshops, discussions, and community activities, taking place each autumn since 1989.
• Living Heritage Discovery Day

Products and services

• Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF) Annual storytelling festival held each autumn since 1989, celebrating live oral storytelling through performances, workshops, discussions, and community activities. It brings together storytellers, traditional artists, and audiences from Scotland and internationally, with outreach programmes such as Story Ripple and Go Local.
• Scottish Storytelling Centre Purpose-built venue in Edinburgh serving as the home for storytelling and traditional arts in Scotland, hosting events, workshops, performances, and a public café. It also houses John Knox House and operates as TRACS's registered office.
• Traditional Music Forum of Scotland (TMFS) National membership organisation and key artform partner within TRACS, advocating for Scotland's traditional music sector and providing support to musicians, educators, and organisations.
• Scottish Storytelling Forum Forum within TRACS dedicated to supporting and promoting storytelling traditions across Scotland, part of the cooperative network structure that connects storytellers and year-round storytelling activity.
• Living Heritage Support Hub Services Official advisory service helping communities, practitioners, and tradition bearers across Scotland engage with the UK Living Heritage Inventory process, and providing practical advice on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.
• Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursaries Annual bursary programme offering five awards of £1,500 each to storytellers whose practice is rooted in place, sustainability, community, and the living tradition of oral storytelling.
• Essential Skills Workshops for Traditional Musicians Industry-focused training workshops offering practical guidance for musicians and organisations working within traditional music in Scotland, covering funding, recording, and self-promotion.
• North Atlantic Song Convention (NASC) International gathering dedicated to unaccompanied song traditions of the North Atlantic region, bringing together singers, scholars, and enthusiasts for workshops, song circles, discussions, and performances.
• Intangible Cultural Heritage Scotland Conference Annual conference organised by the ICH Scotland Partnership to discuss Living Heritage topics, featuring performances, talks, community-led case studies, and ceilidhs.
• Living Heritage Discovery Day Free public event celebrating Scotland's Intangible Cultural Heritage through workshops, performances, conversations, and participatory activities showcasing traditional arts, crafts, music, storytelling, and community practice.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Edinburgh TradfestminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 May 2026The Living Heritage Discovery Day and other TRACS events are part of Edinburgh Tradfest, connecting traditional arts programming across the city.
• UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Appointed TRACS as one of the UK's official ICH Community Support Hubs to support communities engaging with the national Living Heritage Inventory process.
• Creative ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025The ICH Scotland Partnership includes Creative Scotland as a founding member. Creative Scotland provides Multi-Year Funding to TRACS and supports traditional arts through various funding programmes.
• Historic Environment ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025Part of the ICH Scotland Partnership, working together with TRACS to celebrate and safeguard Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland.
• Museums Galleries ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025Part of the ICH Scotland Partnership collaborating with TRACS to map and support Scotland's intangible cultural heritage.
• Perth & Kinross CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025Supported the 2025 ICH Scotland Conference held at Perth Theatre, contributing to the local delivery of living heritage events.
• Perth UNESCO City of Craft and Folk ArtminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2025Provided endorsement for the 2025 ICH Scotland Conference, connecting Scotland's living heritage initiatives with international UNESCO networks.
• Scottish Storytelling ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of TRACS' two artform forums, providing a network for storytellers and supporting Scotland's storytelling activity year-round. Part of the co-operative network structure.
• Traditional Music Forum of Scotland (TMFS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA national membership organization and key artform partner within TRACS, dedicated to advocating for Scotland's traditional music sector and supporting musicians, educators, and organizations.
• Scottish Storytelling CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTRACS operates from the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a dedicated venue for storytelling and traditional arts in Edinburgh's High Street.
• Festivals EdinburghminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Scottish International Storytelling Festival is part of the Festivals Edinburgh network, positioning it among Scotland's major cultural festivals.
• The People's ParishminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA project supported by TRACS focused on community heritage and local traditions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Broad incumbents

• Historic Environment Scotland: Scotland's lead public body for historic environment, partner in the ICH Scotland Partnership. While primarily focused on tangible heritage, HES is directly comparable as a co-coordinator of Scotland's Living Heritage work alongside TRACS.
• Creative Scotland: Scotland's national public body for arts, screen, and creative industries funding. While not a peer in the operating sense, Creative Scotland is TRACS's primary funder and a key strategic partner through Multi-Year Funding and the ICH Scotland Partnership, with overlapping portfolio interests in traditional arts.

Direct peers

• Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches: Scotland's online treasury of oral heritage recordings, jointly hosted by the School of Scottish Studies and BBC. Directly comparable as a Scotland-based intangible cultural heritage preservation and access project, particularly relevant to TRACS's storytelling and oral tradition work.
• Welsh Folk Dance Society (Tim Cymreig): Wales-focused folk dance and song organisation, comparable in mission (national traditional arts support) and volunteer-led co-operative structure. Closest Wales-based peer to TRACS's dance and crafts forum work.
• Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ): Ireland's national movement for traditional Irish music, song, dance, and culture, with a comparable network-of-branches structure, festivals (Fleadh), and advocacy remit. CCÉ is the closest international equivalent to TRACS in scale, mission, and federated network model.
• Heritage Crafts Association: UK charity championing traditional craft skills and practitioners, including the Red List of Endangered Crafts. Directly comparable as a UK-wide heritage advocacy body supporting one of TRACS's core artform areas (crafts), and operating a comparable grant-funded non-profit model.
• English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS): England's national folk arts organisation, operating Cecil Sharp House as a venue, running festivals and education programmes, and supporting traditional music, dance, and song. EFDSS is the most direct UK analogue to TRACS as a national co-ordinating body for traditional arts in a single nation.
• Museums Galleries Scotland: Scotland's national development body for museums and galleries, partner in the ICH Scotland Partnership and co-publisher of the Mapping ICH in Scotland report. Operates a comparable grant-funded advocacy and capacity-building model for Scotland's cultural sector.

Others

• European Association of Folklore Festivals (EAFF): European umbrella for folklore festivals, including partners like the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Relevant as an international convening body that TRACS engages with through SISF and as a network connector for Scotland's folk and storytelling festivals.

Emerging players

• Sabhal Mòr Ostaig: Scotland's National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture on Skye, focused on indigenous language and cultural transmission. Comparable to TRACS as a Scotland-based institution working on intangible cultural heritage and language, with overlapping audience of traditional arts practitioners.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TRACScot
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tracs-traditional-arts-and-culture-scotland
• Instagraminstagram.com/tracscotland

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland)