Loyal fans help Belladrum through tough times

A loyal fanbase has been credited with helping the Highland's biggest music event survive impacts of the Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis.

The three-day Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has opened on the Belladrum Estate, near Beauly.

First held in 2004, it did not go-ahead in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic.

Organisers said ticket sales this year were the best yet, despite pressures on personal finances due to recent high inflation and soaring food prices.

About 25,000 people are expected to attend Bella over its three days. The first of the droves of festival-goers started arriving from about 08:00 on Thursday.

Event producer Dougie Brown said up to 80% of the tickets sold were bought by people who had returned year-on-year to the festival.

He said: "We have got an extremely loyal audience that is hugely supportive of us. We are grateful of that and never take it for granted.

"We are fully aware it has been an exceptionally tough time for everyone following on from Covid and the cost of living crisis.

"For a lot of festivals it has been a really tough year with people not having the same amount of money to spend."

To help better meet the increased capacity, Bella's first and second stages have been switched.

The Hot House stage, which is set in a natural bowl in a field, is now the main stage instead of the Garden Stage, where numbers were sometimes restricted due to the area being a former walled garden.

This weekend's headline acts include British indie pop band Bastille and Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid.

Scottish rock band Travis will play the main stage on Saturday night.

One of the group's biggest hits - Why Does It Always Rain On Me? - was belted out by the Tartan Army at Hampden last month before Scotland's weather-delayed Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia.

The song could prove to be appropriate this weekend, with a forecast for rain showers and possible thundery downpours.

Other Belladrum acts this year include Eurovision singer Sam Ryder, Hollywood star - and country singer - Kiefer Sutherland and Scottish acts Fatherson, Elephant Sessions and Peat & Diesel.

Mr Brown said the mix of international and Scottish acts had helped to keep fans coming back.

"Teenagers who came with their parents 19 years ago now come with their own families," he said. "We have got three or even four generations of the same family coming to Belladrum."

Mr Brown added: "We've had a couple of babies named Bella, after the festival, and a baby Bella was christened here one year."

Each Belladrum has a theme, with previous years being super heroes and Scottish myths and legends. This year's is cartoons.

"Cartoons has been the most popular to date," said Mr Brown following festival-goers' feedback. He added: "Everyone has their favourite cartoon."

The festival's artwork has been designed by Highland artist Michael Forbes, a pop surrealist whose fans include comedian Ricky Gervais and Monty Python star Terry Gilliam.

Mr Forbes has been involved with Bella since its early years, producing its iconic image of a Highland cow wearing star-shaped sunglasses.

The artwork was inspired by the Pink Floyds' Atom Heart Mother album cover.

Mr Forbes said: "It shows a Friesian cow looking back over its shoulder.

"To create the image for Belladrum I followed a Highland cow in a field for about four hours before it pulled the exact same pose."

The artist spent hours coming up with his own cartoon characters for this year's theme, drawing on some of many doodles he covered his school jotters with as a boy.

BBC ALBA will be broadcasting live from Belladrum from 21:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The BBC Scotland channel will also showing live coverage from 23:15 on Friday and Saturday.