| Product: |
Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival |
| Date: |
16/02/08 (82 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great music, family friendly, great entertainment.
Disadvantages: A bit remote
Tartan Heart music festival has been described as the Glastonbury of the north. It's a family friendly music festival with a lot to offer.
It is located in the Belladrum estate in the village of Beauly around nine miles from Inverness. It has been running for five years now and its popularity is growing every year.
Heres what is on offer there.
Music
This is a Scottish music festival. The line up for this year has not been announced yet but there will be a diverse range of Scottish acts. Previous years have included The Proclaimers, Aberfeldy, The Peatbog Faeries, Sandi Thom and much more. The main stage is a lovely open air ampitheatre and there are other music tents too.
Accommodation
Bring your tent! Camping is included in the price of a weekend ticket. Camping is provided in general, family and quiet zones although to be honest theres no real difference between them. Theres also room for camper vans and caravans. You can book a Tipi for the weekend but since I've not tried them I can't comment.
Facilities are basic. There were loads of surprisingly clean portaloos with little queuing as well as cold water taps. You are permitted to cook and we took a camping stove with us.
Take some baby wipes for a quick wipe down every day.
Food
This is one of the areas where Tartan Heart differs from other festivals. There are loads of food stalls here but they don't offer the usual overpriced burgers. There was a vegetarian cafe with seating. I had an amazing curry from there one night as well as pitta with veggie omelette for breakfast one day. The cinema people sold home made cakes and sweet treats, there was a stall selling fresh arbroath smokies and other smoked fish as well as a porridge bar. I found all the food to be reasonably priced.
Alcohol
The only alcohol sold there was from a local brewery who sponsored the event. You can take your own as long as it is not in glass bottles.
Kids
This is a family friendly festival and the kids are well looked after. My daughter and her friend did free poi making and drama workshops. There is storytelling sessions, a creche, puppet shows and loads more to keep the little ones happy.
Other Entertainment
This has a hippy feel. There was the solar powered cinema showing films all day, a buddhist temple, adult comedy shows, ceileidhs, bellydancing, yoga. Some events are bookable in advance and you need to pay and others you just show up.
Stalls
There were some stalls selling things like camping supplies, artwork, jewellery and clothing.
Atmosphere
This festival is much smaller than many festivals. There were a few drunken teenagers but on the whole the festival had a really calm and friendly atmosphere even though people were drinking and having fun.
Weather
The festival is based near Inverness. Prepare for Scottish summer time by bringing your wellies, raincoat, midge repellent, sunglasses and sunscreen.
Cost
This year tickets are £80 for the weekend including camping and parking or £50 for the Saturday only.
Kids under 12 go free.
This year the festival dates are Friday the 8th to Sunday the 10th August.
Mobile Phone
I didn't have much reception on the O2 network but my friends vodafone worked well.
My Opinion
I love this festival and fully intend to go back this year rain or shine. £80 for a weekend away with my daughter (obviously excluding other costs) is fabulous value for money. The range of entertainment is great and it makes a nice change from the commercialised T in the park type festival.
For more information go to the official Belladrum website at
http://www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk/
Summary: A fantastic weekend
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