Hebridean Celtic Festival 2012

The 17th annual Hebridean Celtic Festival will take place at Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland from Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th of July 2012. Expect a line-up of music featuring top international artists set against the backdrop of the Gaelic culture and Hebridean heritage.

Line-up

The Proclaimers, The Waterboys, and Kassidy will headline. Also confirmed are Julie Fowlis, Roddy Woomble, Skerryvore, Manran, Washington Irving, Sketch, Qristina & Quinn Bachand, Beoga, Admiral Fallow, Frank Yamma, Heidi Talbot with John McCusker and Ian Carr, Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson, Adam Holmes and the Ember, Isobel Ann Martin, The Sea Atlas, Skipinnish, We See Lights, Angus Nicolson Trio, Chasing Owls, Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail, and The Long Notes. There are no other acts announced yet for 2012.

Many complementary events are also hosted by community groups around Stornaway and the islands of Lewis and Harris catering for a variety of tastes both musical and otherwise. There are also workshops often given by many of the festival's performers, which includes masterclass sessions. Also included are the ever popular Gaelic language tasters, lectures and children's entertainment plus numerous pub sessions in Stornoway and the surrounding area. Art workshops will be given a historical twist, there's a fire show finale on Saturday and a Pirate theme for 2012.

Tickets

Tickets have been held at 2011 prices, so a tickets is priced at £65 or £52 for concessions for students and others. To buy tickets, click here.

New for 2012

The main site structures will be altered with the main structure slightly smaller and the second stage tent will be larger. There will be food outlets and social areas separating the two stages. In 2012 the operating hours within the main site will be extended on the Friday and Saturday, starting at 2pm over these two days. Thursday will remain an evening opening. The community and outreach programmes both in Stornoway at An Lanntair and around Lewis & Harris will continue.

One Step Further

This year's festival is offering a performance slot for a new band or singer during the four-day event. One Step Further is open to any young band or performer, aged between 18 and 25 at the time of the festival, playing a genre of music that reflects the general programming of the event. Further details can be found here.

More info

There's also a full programme of family entertainment, as well as a street arts programme with walkabout, workshops and fire shows.

This year it is expected that the festival will be once again operating a cashless system for the bars through the introduction of bar tokens in an attempt to reduce queuing.

Transport

There are good public transport links, flights available to Stornoway and a regular ferry service.

There will be more information here when available.

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