BELLA LAUGHS
Belladrum Festival is delighted to announce it’s comedy line-up for the festival’s 10th birthday celebrations
The bill will be topped by Comedian/TV and Radio presenter Des Clarke. Getting his first TV break following in the footsteps of Ant and Dec presenting ITV’s Saturday morning show SMTV Live, he has also presented Scotland’s Children in Need, Club Cupid and Sportsround. Des can currently be found presenting the 105-106 Capital FM Breakfast show as well as performing storming shows throughout the UK.
Also making an appearance across the weekend are, double BAFTA award winner Billy Kikwood who regularly performs to packed out clubs, venues and festivals all across the UK; YouTube sensation mild mannered Neil Bratchpiece who, when he drinks radioactive Irn Bru, transforms into The Wee Man; Glasgow stand-up and winner of the prestigious ‘King Gong’ competition at the Comedy Store 2010 Chris Conroy; a stand out at this year’s Rockness John McGoldrick makes a return to The Highlands with his self-deprecating storytelling; finally to round of the line-up, one of comedy’s heavy hitters, Chris Brooker whose infectious energy and enthusiasm sweeps through a room like an irresistible force.
The UK’s northern-most major festival, and Scotland’s main family festival, Bella, as it is known to its fans, has sold out its 15,800 capacity in advance in record time, over six weeks before the event.
This year, Bella patrons can buy e-tokens for their bar tokens in advance and exchange them on the way in at the box offices. Tokens can also be bought at the usual tokens booth at the event. And tickets are also available for the Portaloo Sunset posh toilets which will be sited at the top of the Red Campsite, near Mother’s Ruin. All these are can be found at www.skiddle.com
Manchester indie legends James and Glasgow rock prodigies Twin Atlantic have been booked to headline along with an exciting and wide-ranging list of other acts including: The Straits – former members of Dire Straits; the British band Noisettes; bluesman Seasick Steve; stellar garage rockers The Horrors and Bella favourites Alabama 3; King Charles and Scots indie artists Admiral Fallow; Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, indie favourites Pigeon Detectives, We Are The Ocean, Baby Strange, Frank Hamilton and Celtic rockers Peatbog Faeries who played the first Belladrum Festival way back in 2004; acoustic-folk-hip hop artist Lucy Spragganand emerging soul artist Jacob Banks, fresh from touring with Emile Sande; singer-songwriterAndy Burrows, former member of Razorlight ; Scots folk stars Dougie MacLean and Julie Fowlis with folk legend Martin Carthy and singer songwriter ex-Arab Strap Malcolm Middleton; Gavin James, an impressive young singer-songwriter from Ireland and Rick Redbeard of the Phantom Band; pagan pop-folk all-girl trio Stealing Sheep and gentle Geordie jazzy swingy country troupe Shipcote and Friends; It’s A Beautiful Day, created during San Francisco’s 1967 ‘Summer of Love;’ folk rockers Treetop Flyers who won Glastonbury’s 2011 emerging talent competition; C&W exponents My Darling Clementine and bluegrass Southern Tenant Folk Union; Scotland’s much loved Celtic rockers, The Dangleberries; Jericho Hill – three ex-punks and a cowboy playing Johnny Cash; Victorian Trout Conspiracy, great ska from Edinburgh; Scots indie bands Meursault, Washington Irving, PAWS, Withered Hand, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, Anderson McGinty Webster Ward & Fisher, Shutter, Vasquez, Wooden Box, the Oxides, Ashley & The Cosmonauts, Be Like Pablo and The Lafontaines ; emerging singer-songwriters Tich andNick Mulvey; Scotland’s most tipped unsigned band, Fatherson; local heroes Scooty and the Skyhooks, Brown Bear and the Bandits from Largs. Skerryvore, Coca Tenorio, FaR, Taghta, Feis Rois, Rhythm and Reel, Mind Funk, Hoodja, Caledonian Ceilidh Trail andToby Michaels Rolling Damned from the Highlands
The 2013 theme is ‘Carnival’, in keeping with the birthday party atmosphere the milestone event is bound to create. A video of the 2012 event created by Tom Welsh from Deluxe.com, Edinburgh, can be seen on the event’s web site.
Belladrum 2013 takes place in the beautiful Highland surroundings of Belladrum Estate, near Beauly in Inverness-shire. The independent festival has built a reputation for its eclectic line-ups, its offbeat non-musical entertainments and its all-ages approach. The festival won a VisitScotland Thistle Award in 2009 and is a past winner of the Grassroots Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards, the festival industry’s ‘oscars’.
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