The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is a music and arts festival, held on the Belladrum Estate in

Kiltarlity Kiltarlity ( gd, Cill Targhlain) is a small village in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is west of Inverness and south of Beauly, on the south bank of the Bruiach Burn. It has a population of under 1,000 people, and a local primary sch ...

near Inverness, in

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. It is normally held at the start of August. Founded in 2004, the festival has rapidly grown in popularity. The festival has sold out in advance every year since 2008. The capacity of the 2019 festival was 20,000.

Background information

The festival is well known for its wide-ranging musical scope, as well as its family friendly atmosphere, with a large dedicated family camp-site, as well as free entry for children under the age of 12. Previous acts that have played at the festival include Madness, Tom Jones, Two Door Cinema Club, Kaiser Chiefs, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, James, Manic Street Preachers, Deacon Blue, Texas

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, Travis, and many more. Stages include, The Garden Stage (Main Stage set in Italian Gardens), The Hot House (Rock Indie, Alternative, Singer-songwriter), The Grassroots (folk, roots, acoustic), Venus Flytrap (comedy, wrestling, cabaret), The Seedlings (emerging and buzz new acts), Mother's Ruin (Dance and Electronic), The Verb Garden (talks, debates, films), The Burke and Hare (cabaret, performance, dj's), The Bella Bar stage, Free Range Folk Stage (singer-songwriters, traditional, acoustic based bands), Jazz Bar (new for 2016) and an array of busking stages. Other areas of the festival include a dedicated children's area, with puppet workshops, arts and crafts, circus skills, dance and music classes and much more. The Walled Garden hosts a variety of alternative therapies, the Burke & Hare and Free Rage Folk stages, and re-enactment groups. Over the years the festival has also hosted Ice-rinks, roller discos, Danny Maccaskills Drop & Roll, and a zip line.

Fringe

In previous years as well as the festival itself there was also a Festival fringe which centered around the 2 weeks surrounding the festival. This finished in the early hours of Hootananny's on the Thursday prior to the festival. The fringe's gigs had no entry-fee in some bars/pubs however others may charge, the fringe showcased a variety of Acts and Music Genres. The Fringe set the mood in the run up to Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival on 8 and 9 August 2008, offering a musical trail around the Highlands for the intrepid music lover.

2004

The festival began in 2004 with 2,000 people attending for one day in Belladrum's Italian Gardens, the terraced arena that still forms the main stage. Since then, the capacity has grown 18,500 people over two and a half days (3 - 5 August 2017), with an additional headliner being added to the ceilidh warm up on the Thursday night in 2015.

Garden Stage

2005

In 2005 the festival was on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 August. This year it had five stages, ranging in size from the Grassroots Tent, which has a capacity of approximately 250 and is dedicated to small acoustic and folk acts, through to the Garden Stage, which is a natural amphitheatre that can hold several thousand people In 2005, new features include the Seedlings Stage for new or unsigned artists and the Venus Flytrap Palais, a stage totally dedicated to the wonderful and sometimes, frankly, weird in music, theatre, cabaret and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

The Black Isle brewery Grassroots Stage

2006

Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

The Black Isle brewery Grassroots Stage

Hail Seedlings Stage

Venus Flytrap Palais

2007

Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

The Black Isle brewery Grassroots Stage

Hail Seedlings Stage

Venus Flytrap Palais

2008

2008 saw the Tartan Heart Festival win the award for the best Grass Roots Festival (2008)

Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

The Black Isle brewery Grassroots Stage

Hail Seedlings Stage

Venus Flytrap Palais

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2009

The 2009 festival took place on 7 and 8 August, and the headline acts were the

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and

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Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

The Black Isle brewery Grassroots Stage

Hail Seedlings Stage

Potting Shed Stage

Mother's Ruin DJ Stage

2010

*Feeder *Amy Macdonald *The Wailers *Badly Drawn Boy *The Divine Comedy *The Levellers *King Creosote *Twin Atlantic *Candy Staton *Dick Gaughan *The Vatersay Boys

2011

*Texas *Deacon Blue *Ed Sheeran *Ben Howard *King Charles *Frank Turner *Skerryvore *Teddy Thompson *Vintage Trouble *Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire *The David Latto Band (Potting Shed Stage)

2012

Garden Stage

Hothouse Stage

2013

Garden Stage (Main Stage) saw James headline along with Twin Atlantic, Pigeon Detectives, Alabama 3, Seasick Steve and many more.

Mothers Ruin Stage (DJ Stage)

2014

* Tom Jones * Reef * Frightened Rabbit * Billy Bragg * Glenn Tilbrook * The Temperance Movement * Grandmaster Flash * Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds * The Vatersay Boys

2015

Garden Stage (Main Stage)

Hothouse Stage

Grassroots Stage

2016

Garden Stage (Main Stage)

Hothouse Stage

2017

* The Pretenders * Franz Ferdinand * Sister Sledge * K T Tunstall * First Aid Kit * Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5

2018

* Paloma Faith * The Fun Lovin' Criminals * The Charlatans * Amy Macdonald * Professor Green * Ward Thomas * Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 *Gerry Cinamon *Primal Scream

2019

Garden Stage (Main Stage)

Hot House Stage

2022

The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival returned to Scotland on 28 July 2022 with the festival featuring performances from The Magic Numbers, Tide Lines, Daytime TV, Emeli Sandé, Admiral Fallow, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Dreadzone, The Fratellis, Siobhan Miller, Vistas, Peat & Diesel (replacing Sam Ryder at short notice), Shed Seven, Passenger and a DJ set from Gok Wan. Highlights from the festival were broadcast on BBC Scotland and BBC Alba, with Fiona MacKenzie and Niall Iain MacDonald presenting. Full sets from a number of acts were also available on the BBC iPlayer.

References

External links

Official websitePictures from the FestivalPass application for Festival FringeOfficial 2004 websiteOfficial 2005 websiteOfficial 2006 websiteOfficial 2007 websiteOfficial 2008 website
{{Major British Music Festivals Culture in Inverness Rock festivals in Scotland Indie rock festivals Folk festivals in Scotland Busking venues 2004 establishments in Scotland Annual events in Scotland Music festivals established in 2004 Tourist attractions in Scotland Autumn events in Scotland