The Outsider Festival was a music and comedy

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

held in 2007 in the Rothiemurchus Estate near

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is po ...

in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It was a festival with green credentials and attracted 9,000 attendees on each of the two days that it was held. It was organised by Unique Events. The festival was held over the

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...

weekend, and was part of

Highland 2007 Highland 2007 was a year-long celebration of Highland culture which took place from January until December 2007. It involved local communities throughout the Scottish Highlands and Islands as well as people across Scotland, the UK and beyond. Bac ...

. As well as music and comedy, the festival featured outdoor activities, including a 12 km run and a mountain bike marathon. The organisers planned for the festival to return in 2008, but in February 2008 announced a postponement until the following year. The organisers said an "international rock act" had decided not to come, and also cited funding problems and concerns over the environmental impact on the estate. The 2009 festival was to have been part of Homecoming Scotland 2009, but the Outsider organisers announced the cancellation of their event in May, citing the economic downturn and poor ticket sales. The event was to have been headlined by

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas. She has a contralto vocal range. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 million records. ...

, but it was thought only 2,000 tickets had been sold by May 2009.

Lineup

In the inaugural Outsider, acts included: * KT Tunstall *

Willy Mason Willy Mason (born November 21, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life Mason was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Jemima James and Michael Mason, both songwriters. Mason is a direct descendant of the 19th-century phi ...

* Crowded House * Idlewild * Guillemots * Capercaillie *

Peatbog Faeries The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...

Salsa Celtica Salsa Celtica are a Scottish group that plays a fusion of salsa music with traditional Scottish instruments, including elements of folk and jazz. History Salsa Celtica was formed in 1995 by Scottish jazz and folk musicians. In 1997 they visit ...

King Creosote Kenny Anderson (born January 1967), known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, '' Astronaut Meets Appl ...

Blazin' Fiddles Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish fiddle band from the Highlands and Islands. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards L ...

Shooglenifty Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound S ...

Comedians appearing included

Michael McIntyre Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is an English comedian, writer and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents his own Saturday night series, ''Michael Mc ...

, Craig Hill,

Karen Dunbar Karen Dunbar (born 1 April 1971) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She first appeared on television on the BBC Scotland sketch comedy series ''Chewin' the Fat'' (1999–2002), and was subsequently given her own show by the channel ti ...

, Stephen K. Amos and

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series '' Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows including '' Would ...

. The festival also included environmental debates chaired by

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

References

External links

Outsider Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Outsider Festival Music festivals in Scotland Folk festivals in Scotland