Killin Music Fest is a Scottish music festival held annually in

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

, Perthshire.

Killin Music Fest

The festival was launched in late 2015 by a local voluntary team who started planning for their first event in the summer of 2016. In June 2016, the weekend festival was attended by nearly 1,000 people and hosted over 100 artists across Friday 17, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 June 2016. The festival incorporates one main stage in the McLaren Hall, Killin, along with workshops, sessions and fringe activities throughout the area. In November 2016 the festival was nominated as the Best New Festival at the

UK Festival Awards The UK Festival Awards are awarded annually, with various categories for all aspects of festivals that have taken place in the UK, and one category for European festivals. The Awards were first established in 2004 by Steve Jenner and his team a ...

2016. In June 2017, the festival expanded to include a session tent marquee. In November 2017, the festival was nominated for Event of the Year in the MG Alba

Scots Trad Music Awards The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media an ...

2017, one of five finalists. In February 2018, the festival was nominated for an Epic Award from Voluntary Arts, one of ten Scottish finalists. In June 2018, the festival session tent marquee evolved into a second stage. In July 2019, the organising group became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. In January 2020, the event was rebranded using the shorter name 'Killin Music Fest'. In March 2020, due to the outbreak of

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the fifth festival, which was scheduled to take place from 19 to 21 June 2020, was postponed and rescheduled to take place from 18 to 20 June 2021. In December 2021 the Manran concert scheduled for 30 December was cancelled due to the ongoing

restrictions. In May 2022 the festival announced the renaming of the marquee stage to the Danny Kyle Stage.

2016

The first Killin Music Festival was held from 17 to 19 June 2016. The main stage ran from 18:00 until 01:00 on Friday 17 June, and from 15:30 until 01:00 on Saturday 18 June. The lineup on Sunday 19 June focused on an open stage competition, running from 12:00 until 17:30. Various ancillary events ran across the weekend, including singing and music workshops, gigs in local pubs and bars, and local heritage tours. The event ran in the McLaren Hall, Killin. The festival office was located in an empty shop on the main street of the village. The event was compered by Liz Clark of

Celtic Music Radio Celtic Music Radio is a Community Radio station in Scotland, broadcasting to the Greater Glasgow on 95.0 FM, Edinburgh on DAB+ and also worldwide via the internet. Celtic Music Radio is a Scottish Charity, registration number SC041172. The ...

, who helped organise the Killin Traditional Music and Dance Festival in the mid-1990s.

Artists

---- ;Notes: :1. The Claire Hastings Band was originally scheduled to perform on the Saturday line-up, but were replaced by Jenn Butterworth & LB Salter when Claire was unable to perform due to laryngitis.

2017

The second Killin Music Festival was held from 16 to 19 June 2017 in Killin, Perthshire. The main stage ran from 18:30 until 01:30 on Friday 16 June, and from 18:00 until 01:30 on Saturday 17 June. The main stage extended in 2017 to include a seated concert on Sunday 19 June, running from 19:00 until 23:00. During the morning of Sunday 19th, a Community Stage event was introduced, focusing on local performers and talent. The open stage competition was relocated to the Killin Hotel. Various other ancillary events ran across the weekend, including singing and music workshops, workouts, pipe band parades, and local heritage talks. The event ran in the McLaren Hall, Killin. The festival office was relocated to the local sports pavilion, and a session tent was introduced located in the pavilion grounds. The event was compered by Liz Clark.

Artists

2018

The third Killin Music Festival was held from 15 to 17 June 2018 in Killin, Perthshire. Early bird tickets went on sale on Monday 19 June 2017 and sold out within 90 minutes. The event was compered by Liz Clark.

Artists

2019

The fourth Killin Music Festival was held from 14 to 16 June 2019 in Killin, Perthshire. The event was compered by Paddy Callaghan.

Artists

2020–21

Killin Music Fest was scheduled to take place from 19 to 21 June 2020 in Killin, Perthshire. Due to the outbreak of

the event was postponed and rescheduled to take place from 18 to 20 June 2021. Due to ongoing

restrictions the event was again postponed in 2021 and rescheduled to take place from 17 to 29 June 2022.

2022

The fifth Killin Music Fest took place from 17 to 19 June 2022 in Killin, Perthshire. The event was compered by Paddy Callaghan.

Artists

2023

The sixth Killin Music Fest took place from 16 to 18 June 2023 in Killin, Perthshire. The event was compered by Paddy Callaghan.

Artists

2025

The seventh Killin Music Fest is scheduled to take place from 20 to 22 June 2025 in Killin, Perthshire.

Open Stage Competition

From 2016 to 2019 the festival ran an open stage competition during the weekend where five artists or groups are selected from applicants, with one winner being judged by an industry expert. The winner was presented with an Open Stage Winner trophy and is invited to play on the main stage at the following years festival.

Col Charles Stewart Quaich

In 2022 the festival introduced a competition to award the new Col Charles Stewart Quaich. The competition accepts any performance of music, poetry or stories, which celebrate the local area of Killin and Perthshire, and is inspired by Killin's heritage in traditional Scottish music, in particular, Stewart's ‘The Killin Collection’. Col Charles Stewart (1823-1894) was a prominent figure in Killin and Perthshire, and helped to preserve and promote local history, folklore, language and music. Among his many achievements Stewart was Chief of the Perth Gaelic Society, Director of the Killin Railway, head of Killin Gaelic Choir and was a respected historian and translator of historic Gaelic manuscripts. Born in Glen Lyon, Stewart spent the greater part of his life in Killin at Tigh’n Duin (the now demolished youth hostel). His legacy ‘The Killin Collection of Garlic songs’ comprises Garlic songs and tunes of the local area from the 18th century.

Other events

The group have also organised other events alongside the summer festival weekend.

History

Killin Traditional Music and Dance Festival 1995 – 2003

The Killin Traditional Music and Dance Festival, also known as Killin Folk Festival, ran for nine festivals from 1995 until 2003. Danny Kyle served as festival director for the first three festivals, from 1995 through 1998, until his passing on 7 July 1998.

References

{{Scottishfestivals Music festivals established in 1995 Music festivals in Scotland 1995 establishments in Scotland

Stirling (council area) The Stirling council area ( sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about ( estimate). It was created under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Sti ...

Folk festivals in the United Kingdom Music in Stirling (council area)