Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival near Beauly gets ready to welcome 20,000 visitors
In a corner of the Belladrum Festival site near Beauly, work is under way to secure an inflatable giant pair of rainbow-coloured hands in the shape of heart.
Elsewhere, marquees are being put up, metal barriers have been fixed into position and trucks are ferrying materials and equipment across the site.
As we stride out alongside festival site owner Joe Gibbs and festival producer Dougie Brown, we take care to avoid marker pegs in the ground as the Belladrum estate is transformed into what will be the second biggest town in the Highlands for four days as more than 20,000 festival-goers take up temporary residence.
We meet with just two days to go before the gates are opened to the first arrivals and there is a sense of excitement as well as apprehension as the festival - known for its eccentric and family-friendly atmosphere and musical diversity - celebrates 20 years.
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After two decades of hosting Belladrum, Joe remains unfazed by the prospect of thousands of revellers camping out in what is essentially in his backgarden.
Many of them return year after year and a large proportion are from the Highlands.
“Right from the start it was tailored for the Highlands and a Highland crowd,” he says.
“We often say that you cannot walk five minutes without bumping into someone you know.
“That’s what makes it special.”
Having founded the festival in 2004, he sold it in 2017 to the Kilimanjaro Group and these days attends the festival as a fan.
“I count myself as part of the audience,” he says.
“Now, not being involved in the management it is wonderful to be able to enjoy it.”
It is a scene of peace and calm as we pause in front of the Garden Stage but in the next few days it will be packed with people as it reverberates to the sounds of musicians such as Twin Atlantic, Jake Bugg and Teenage Fanclub.
Joe reflects that this is the spot where the seeds were first sown for the festival.
Having fought to buy back 1150 acres of land that was initially set to be part of his inheritance, he had the idea of holding a festival to restore the once ornate Italian terraced garden.
“It was covered in birch and alder and the stone was being pulled apart by the self-seeded trees,” he recalled. “It was a wilderness.”
The garden had ceased to be when Belladrum House was pulled down in 1955.
“Before that, 20 to 30 gardeners put in 30,000 annuals each year.
“It is unlikely we are going to recreate that but I suppose we have a different sort of a flower power now!”
The first festival was a one-day event with a crowd of between 2000 and 2500.
“The powers-that-be were nervous about the idea of a festival in the Highlands and said it had to be restricted to one day,” he recalls.
“My memories of the build-up is that it was an extraordinary learning curve in health and safety.”
Over the years, Belladrum has welcomed big names such as Sir Tom Jones but has also hosted up-and-coming local musicians.
It is also proud to have played a part in the early careers of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande, Lewis Capaldi and Amy Macdonald.
A self-confessed fan of the “heritage slots”, he recalls enjoying performances by psychedelic band Jefferson Starship, Hawkwind and Arlo Guthrie.
He reveals that this year he is looking forward to seeing the Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub.
“I am glad to see them in the line-up. We tried to get them under my management but for one reason or another, we never managed to make it work.
“It is lovely to see them on the bill this year.
“It’s also been a coup to get the Sugababes.
“They were one of the standout acts at the Glastonbury festival.”
As well as providing a platform for a wide range of music genres, the festival is also rooted in the local community and over the years has raised more than £1 million for different charities, many of them grassroots organisations.
They include the Kiltarlity Community Hall Association which, for those in the know, runs the hugely popular tea and cake stall every year in a white marquee in one the festival’s prime retail spots overlooking the Garden Stage.
As the two men reminisce, Dougie recalls attending the first Belladrum Festival as a 22-year-old.
“I came to the first one as an audience member and fell in love with it and basically hung around for the next 19 years getting more and more responsibility!” he recalls.
“But I also got heat stroke and had to go home early.
“It was such a hot day and I’d also had a few Black Isle Blonde beers and got a stinking migraine!”
Belladrum boasts it is the largest camping and outdoor festival in Scotland and as he takes in the work going on across the site, Dougie is still impressed by how the festival village comes together.
“It takes hundreds of staff,” he says. “It is a huge team.
“Every bit of fence has to be put together, for example.
“I am still amazed at how it all happens.
“On the Thursday, I stand here when the first acts have been on and say ‘how have we got here?’
“Belladrum is the second biggest town in the Highlands over the course of a weekend.
“We have all the amenities - shops, the plumbing, electricity, a hospital, police, everything. We have to be prepared for every eventuality.”
He also notes that about 40 UK festivals have announced a postponement, cancellation or complete closure in 2024, according to the Association of Independent Festivals.
“The costs of production have gone up enormously and if you combine that with hard times for people economically, that is not a great thing,” he says.
“All festivals are struggling.
“Infrastructure costs have gone up considerably but we cannot put up ticket prices by the same percentage.
“It is a difficult time for events but Belladrum is weathering the storm a lot better than other festivals.”
Joe adds: “We have a wonderful audience who are very supportive and very loyal.”
