Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2022

Well this was a long time coming.

When my friends (Wendy & Steph) and I got back from Belladrum 2019 (see earlier post) we bought tickets for Belladrum 2020. The tickets go on sale almost immediately after the last festival. So without knowing who the acts were going to be we bought the tickets. We also went to 2018’s Belladrum together as well. Can you tell we love this festival?

Who knew back in August 2019 that a global pandemic was going to scupper our plans?!

The festival got postponed in 2020…then again in 2021…and our we were hoping like crazy that 2022 it would go ahead. Then my husband got Covid (for the first time) a few weeks before the festival so he was isolating upstairs for 10 days and I masked up to deliver trays of food and drinks to the landing for him and sleeping downstairs, hoping I didn’t catch it off him.

Finally Thursday came and I was still testing negative yay!!

Wendy and Steph came to mine, we piled all our stuff in Steph’s van and off we finally went to the festival. Its actually only 11 miles from my house but we camp for the full Belladrum experience.

We stay in the Clean Fields are which is no extra charge, but you need a ticket on a first come first basis when you book your main entry ticket. You must take ALL your stuff away with you before leaving. They also have an areas called Quiet camping, Family camping and then there is General camping.

I took most photos on Thursday when it was quiet.

Inside the Arena area you can find just about any type of music you could imagine. This is very much a family friendly festival with so many things on offer to entertain kids of all ages.

There are lots of different bars, stages, music tents and outdoor stages. There are comedians, magicians, wrestling, poets. There’s a big wheel and bumper cars. Food, craft and clothing stalls. Creative activities for kids and adults. There’s so much on offer and obviously its impossible to get round everything.

This year we didn’t manage to see anything on these stages:

• Free Range Folk
• Off Axis Seedlings
• Mother’s Ruin

We did however see a wide range of acts on the following stages:

• Garden (Main stage which has permanent terracing)
• Ice House (jazz/blues/big band music)
• Burke ‘n Hair (yep that’s how they spell it! It has an eclectic mix of singers and hay bale seating.)
• Bella Bar (a tiny open air stage near one of the main bars)
• Hot House (previously this was a tented venue but is now an outdoor stage, similar to the Garden stage but with a slope rather than terracing.)
• Grass Roots (tented stage)
• Hootenanny, Potting Shed and Trailer Trash Stages at Moose Hollow. (Americana/country music)
• Venus Fly Trap (a tent with seating where you can see comedians, magicians, wrestling and much more)

Wendy bought us some rainbow hat umbrellas which came in handy in the sun and the rain.

I bought myself some rainbow trousers to keep the sun off my legs and used a larger umbrella to keep the sun off and still came home with prickly heat. Normal cool and windy summer temps have returned since I left the festival!

On Saturday, for Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, Wendy and Steph went up front of stage and I stayed up with our seats but still took part in all the actions you do along to their songs. They are always the highlight of the festival. I’ve circled the 3 of us in red…my rainbow pants are perfect to spot me.

For my records this is a list of who I saw:

• Chic featuring Nile Rogers
• Van Morrison
• The Fratellis
• Passenger
• Shed Seven
• Callum Beattie
• Col. Mustard and the Dijon 5*
• Tidelines*
• Gok Wan
• The Dangleberries*
• My Pet Rock
• Wounded Moose
• Oxbow Lake Band
• Gimme ABBA
• Gleadhraich
• Forgetting the Future
• Electric 80s
• Tim Gallagher
• Great Glen Swing Band
• Beinn Lee
• Dadi Freyr
• Andy Duncan
• Darren Poyzer
• Tom Houston
• The Slim Panatellas

If you are in the UK you can find Belladrum footage on the BBC iplayer under BBC Scotland or BBC Alba. They didn’t have camera on for Van Morrison…he sounds like not a great guy and his voice wasn’t great. Chic and Nile Rogers were brilliant and I thought I’d have no voice for a week I was singing along so much. Other highlights were The Fratellis singing “Yes sir I can boogie” and as always Col. Mustard and the Dijon 5.

It was a brilliant weekend and I am looking forward to Belladrum 2023.