The biggest and best festival in the North of Scotland (Rockness Musical Festival)

Member Name: shell96

Product:	Rockness Musical Festival
Date:	10/12/08 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Many big name bands and DJs that normally Highlanders would have to travel miles to see

Disadvantages: No mobile phone signal, very pricey food and drinks, portaloos not always great

Rockness has been running for 3 years now and is the premier music festival in the north of Scotland. Held in the tiny village of Dores about 10 miles from the centre of Inverness this festival started as a 1 day event in 2006, graduated onto a full weekend and in 2009 will become a 3 day festival. Every year everything gets bigger - the site, numbers attending and the popularity of the bands and DJs who entertain the crowds. Originally started as a dance music event with a range of DJs when it became a 2 day event, one day generally stayed as this while the other attracted bands and rock fans.
Set in a beautiful location right on the shore of Loch Ness, this festival is billed as the only one with its own monster! Rockness tends to attract a younger clubbier sort of crowd although there are still many people who attend with children or babies. Many big name bands and DJs have played here including Fatboy Slim, The Feeling, Razorlight, Carl Cox and the line-up for next year includes The Prodigy and Basement Jaxx.
Some downsides - The huge camp site can be along walk from the festival arena (although with an ample supply of alcohol you may not notice the distance) and we struggled a bit to actually find a space to pitch our tent when we camped in 2007. The road between the festival and Inverness quickly becomes choked with cars, buses and pedestrians before, during and after the festival which can mean long queues. The cost of food and drink is astronomical especially since you are not allowed to bring any in with you (bags are searched and only bottled water allowed) - I easily spent £70 a day by myself on food, drinks and merchandise stalls. The remote location and huge numbers attending means mobile phones are pretty much useless during the festival so meeting up with mates can be challenging.
The problems of the first year of limited choice of drinks and food (maybe due to sponsorship deals?) seems to have been sorted with 2008 offering a huge selection of foods including the Argyll Specialist food tent and a variety of specialised sponsored bars.
The problem of the portaloos which in 2007 were absolutely disgusting with many full by Saturday afternoon and not maintained also seemed to have been rectified in 2008. Walking to the further away loos helped to avoid long queues and blocked toilets although the best maintained by far were the Heilan' Loos so look out for them!

Summary: A brilliant festical featuring an immense lineup in a beautiful location.