Rebecca Hay
Tub thumping music and swirling kilts drenched in a backdrop of beauty makes for an entrancing Celtic festival.
With a huge dollop of friendly happy smiles and everyone’s a winner at four-day Knockengorroch – Scotland’s first greenfield site celebration.
Now in it’s 26th year, it still holds true the values it was born with, when the idea for the event on a sheep farm in a sleepy part of Dumfries and Galloway, was first thought of by Londoners Liz and Simon Holmes.
Liz and Simon had bought Knockengorroch from the forestry and used their 25 acres as a small holding and to grow potatoes, before in 1998, they hosted their first festival featuring traditional music on a stage made from straw bales and pallets, with a roof of bent trees and tarpaulin.
Simple but impressive and drawing a crowd of 300, Liz and Simon did not rest of their laurels and today they have musicians from all over the world and a cap of 3,000 revellers for the May event, which is organised with the help of their children Robert and Katch.
Wonderfully, it’s a mixture of young, old, individuals, couples and families, who all rub along nicely together and set up home in beautiful countryside.
From tents to caravans to camper vans, it’s a heady mix and with husband Kenny and children Ruaridh and Flossie in tow, we opted for a family motorhome.
Europe’s leading operator CamperDays works with 150 countries worldwide to hook people up with camper accommodation where its needed.
Using an online and contactless system, CamperDays find you a local operator and then it’s a breeze to collect, learn the ropes of how to use the van and drop back off at convenient times.
We opted for a spacious family van, an ideal size, with ready made bunkbeds and a double bed, mini bathroom with shower and toilet, a seating and eating area and sink, oven and roomy fridge freezer.
The van fitted snugly in to a great spot at the festival just by the main action, which meant plenty of music and fun until 4 a.m.
To spice the event up, a new theme is chosen and this year it was sustenance, nourishment for the mind and body, supporting life and health, encouraged by planting fruit and vegetables in the venue’s Discee Centre for Food, Art and Learning, a huge polytunnel where workshops and talks were also held to encourage land bio-diversity and food production.
And as a nod to the theme, everyone donned “fruity” costumes, from bright yellow bananas to huge toadstool hats and beautifully knitted strawberry berets.
Having such a massive open space, means Knockengorroch is spread across a huge area of Carsphairn, with the Bo Airigh Stage hosting the main acts.
Named after the cattle people of ancient Gaeldom and celebrating the area’s ancestory, the quirky designed stage featuring huge Highland coo cut outs as a tribute to animals living on the farm, was set for 16 bands, ranging from the traditional Isle of Skye’s Peatbog Faeries to Sámi singer Kajsa Balto, making her UK debut.
Scottish and Irish music was thumped out by Ape House from Glasgow and the Knoydart Peninsula and Trinidad’s Queen Omega raised the roof with her mixture of Caribbean, jazz and soul. Local musicians from Dalmellington Silver Band drew in the crowds with their brass tunes.
The nearby Shieling summerhouse starred gems including The Auld Reekie String Band from Edinburgh, Dunbar’s Yoko Pwno, all traditional fiddles and banjos and the famous closing Jiginaboot Ceilidh.
One of the nicest venues is the Langwhan (Longhouse) which dates back to 1580 and was the seat of a prominent Macmillan clansman. Reconstruction in 1995 resulted in a thatched, part stone, timber frame and turf building which played host to such beauties as Cumbria’s Tattie Ankles and North East’s Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening, with music inspired by the wilds of Northumbria.
Huge tents were split up to feature smaller bands with diverse music from around the world and specialist workshops ranging from Georgian singing to circus skills.
Food and drink stalls with flavours from Caribbean to Japanese tempting the palate are dotted around the site which has plenty of toilet and shower blocks to make the event enjoyable.
The family friendly festival is especially welcoming for children who can enjoy the freedom of the beautiful site, meet the farm’s donkeys and enjoy star gazing with the Galloway Dark Skies team, while parents take advantage of the onsite sauna and skinny dipping in the river which runs through the area.
All the music and workshops are included in the ticket prices, with packages to suit all pockets and buses run to the Central Belt and neighbouring towns to cut down on the need for a car.
The cracking venue, music and happy revellers keeping the Celtic spirit of fun and frivolity well and truly alive.
For more information check out www.knockengorroch.org.uk and www.camperdays.co.uk
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