That was the message at this special event which saw Gaelic and Polish voices follow each other on the stage and mingle in the foyer of Eden Court.

Perhaps this welcome to one of the Highlands' newer minority languages was indicative of a new confidence within the Gaelic community of Inverness.

Proof of the optimistic state of the language came as soon as the curtain lifted on the refurbished Eden Court's first Gaelic event to reveal the pupils of the city's new Gaelic school singing confidently alongside the teenagers of the junior choral group Canntaireachd, appropriately enough on a new and vibrant song "Alba Gu Brath (Scotland Forever)" by David MacLennan.

Canntaireachd stumbled slightly towards the end of their solo set as they married a Polish tune to island waulking songs, but this did not dampen the enjoyment.

The first half's instrumental interlude came from Highland-based Irish exile Nuala Kennedy on flute, accompanied by Marc Clement on guitar. Though they struggled to get a shy Highland audience to say hello, by the end of their brief appearance their lively music had the auditorium clapping along.

The award-winning Inverness Gaelic Choir also kept its appearance brief, in fact too brief given the choir were nominal headliners, and the audience could have been treated to more of its beauteous harmonies under the direction of conductor Jamie MacGregor, its outnumbered male section counterpointing the soaring voices of the women.

The choir did end the first half on a high, though, joining Canntaireachd in a new song from member Norman MacArthur, "Inverness Flight 2007", was in keeping with the evening's theme celebrating the diversity of modern Inverness.

The second part of the evening presented a major shift in tone, from the more formal unaccompanied vocals of the home team, acknowledged by frame drummer Maciej Szajkowski in his introduction.

Speaking over the exotic Eastern European soundtrack laid down by Magdalena Sobczak on the hammer dulcimer, he warned the audience not to expect the beautiful, sophisticated music of the first half, but something "wilder and maybe a slightly bit barbarian".

The band could certainly play with a wildness which would do credit to their Scottish counterparts, who also love to thrash out a spirited reel.

But they also showed sophistication in not only their instrumental arrangements, but the vocal harmony of its three female members: Sobczak, cellist Maja Kleszcz and violinist Sylwia Swiatkowska.

They had a rougher edge than the sweet- voiced Gaels who preceded them, but the first two women also displayed an impressive vocal range.

The sizable Polish section of the audience were vocal in showing their appreciation of their countrymen and women, but Scots would also have been impressed as the Warsaw Village Band brought an evening of contrasting, but successful, halves to a lively conclusion. CM

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