Speyfest throws open the gates to its site in the north-east village of Fochabers today as the weekend-long celebration of music and culture gets underway for the 27th time.
Celebrating the very best in Scottish and Irish traditional music, the much-loved Moray event will transform the town’s playing fields into a tented village which will play home to more than 30 performances from around 100 artists over the next three days.
Speyfest will be extending its warm hospitality to around 4,000 visitors between now and Sunday night as it showcases the best that Speyside has to offer in live performances, quality food and drink, arts and crafts and more.
The sound of pipes will ring out to mark the festival officially getting underway on Friday evening courtesy of Gordonstoun School Pipe Band before a raft of much-loved acts take to the main stage, known as the Christie Stage, and the smaller Duncan’s of Fochabers Stage.
Kicking things off on the Christie Stage are Milne’s High School Fiddlers and The Arc Fiddlers, showcasing local talent and the beauty of the fiddle, before Breabach, one of Scotland’s most skilled and imaginative contemporary folk acts, take to the stage. Friday’s concert headliner, Irish music legends the Sharon Shannon Trio, will make a much anticipated return to Speyfest this year.
Talented Highland accordionist and singer Calum MacPhail will open Friday’s standing gig known as the ‘stomp’, before returning favourites Skerryvore carry the party on into the wee hours. Meanwhile on the Duncan’s of Fochabers Stage, located close to the bar, up and coming North-East band Tìr-Mòr will have festival goers on their feet with their upbeat contemporary traditional tunes during the changeovers.
The festival’s annual craft fair will get proceedings underway bright and early on Saturday morning. The free-to-enter event will welcome crafters and makers from across Speyside and beyond to showcase their wares from 9.30am to 2.30pm, before making way for more live music.
Speyfest was founded in a bid to inspire the next generation of musicians and has continued this endeavour for more than a quarter of a century, hosting free instrument and singing workshops throughout the week leading up to its opening. The participants in all of these workshops – multi-instrumental workshops with A Louth Lilt, advanced fiddle with Kevin Henderson, and Lizzie’s Big Sing with local vocal coach Lizzie Sharp – will have the chance to showcase what they’ve learned, all performing on the Duncan’s of Fochabers Stage on Saturday.
The festival spirit will be in full flow throughout Saturday afternoon and evening with plenty more live music on the Duncan’s of Fochabers Stage from Milne’s High School Fiddlers, Fèis Spè’s Monadh Ruadh band, the talented Amber Thornley Trio, Elgin rock artist Danny Mortimer, innovative trad outfit MAK 2, lively ceilidh band BROMA, and upbeat trio Johnny Sheep & The Coupit Ewes, with Aberdeenshire four-piece Ruach closing the evening in style.
Fresh for 2024, Speyfest’s new cocktails and canapés event will give festival goers the chance to enjoy delicious Reynolds cocktails and canapés by The Mill House Hotel, all soundtracked by local musician Lewis Wiles, while the bar will remain open all day on Saturday for the first time.
This year’s festival also has plenty on offer for families, with kids events including arts and crafts and face painting with Highland Artisans, and Fox’s Tales interactive story telling sessions from Fox and Friends Highland.
The Christie Stage will host a wealth of talent on Saturday night, with concerts from the celebrated Hannah Rarity Band and lively Shetland group Fiddlers’ Bid, before local stars Tour Bus Fortune and Scottish icons Tide Lines lead the coveted late night ‘stomp’ slots.
Speyfest’s Family Sunday kicks off with the event’s free Celtic Kirk Service at 10am, which will welcome performances from Celtic Worship, Arc Fiddlers and A Louth Lilt.
Hosted by Black Isle multi-instrumentalist and BBC Radio Scotland Travelling Folk presenter Anna Massie, who will also perform, Sunday will see the Christie Stage showcase some incredible talent throughout the afternoon from A Louth Lilt, a cèilidh session from Ruach, the Eryn Rae Band, fronted by the winner of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2022, dynamic four-piece Gnoss, and the Auld Fochabers Fiddlers.
Into the evening, Tour Bus Fortune will return with another lively set on the Christie Stage, along with Glasgow-based five-piece Ímar, while local Americana fusion group The Forty Elephants and Celtic-pop group Dougal’s Jumper will entertain audiences on the Duncan’s of Fochabers Stage, before six-piece Highland powerhouse Trail West close the weekend out in spectacular style on the Christie Stage.
Speyfest Chair Ashleigh Macgregor said: “The Speyfest team are so excited that the day is finally here and it’s time to welcome music lovers from near and far to enjoy this year’s festival. Speyfest continues to go from strength to strength, bringing a diverse bill of incredible local, emerging and established music to Moray for all to enjoy. The festival is all about spreading the joy of live music, bringing people together and encouraging and inspiring the next generation and that’s exactly what we’ll be looking to do once again across the weekend.
“Bringing a three-day event together is the culmination of lots of hard work from the team behind the scenes and it’s all worthwhile when we see everyone’s smiling faces taking in the tented village – there’s no better feeling than that! We can’t wait to share everything we’ve been working on and look forward to another amazing Speyfest weekend.”
Siobhan Anderson, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “An incredible array of traditional artists will take to the stage over the weekend with entertainment for all the family. It’s heartening to see so many emerging acts supported by the festival alongside household names. Thanks to National Lottery funding, the Speyside community will be enriched with music and culture, and visitors will get to see and enjoy all that the area has to offer.”
Robert Robertson of Tide Lines said: “We loved playing Speyfest back in 2017 when the band was only about a year old and we remember how enthusiastic and supportive the crowd were for a relatively new band. It’ll be great to return seven years on to headline the Saturday night this year!”
A range of tickets are available for Speyfest, including weekend passes, concert tickets, stomp tickets, combined day tickets, all-day Sunday tickets and a student discount weekend pass.
Speyfest is supported by private and public backers including the Christie family, The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and many others.
Speyfest runs at the playing fields on East Street, Fochabers until Sunday 21st July 2024. For more information, to view the programme in full or buy tickets, visit www.speyfest.com.