headliners announced for HebCelt Festival

The Waterboys, The Proclaimers, and Kassidy will headline the 17th annual Hebridean Celtic Festival taking place at Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland from Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th of July 2012.

The Proclaimers will be launching their new album 'Like Comedy' in May this year in advance of playing their new tunes for the HebCelt audience, whilst The Waterboys will be coming to Scotland on the back of an extensive European tour.

Scottish folk rock act Kassidy complete the announced headliners. Also confirmed are some of the acts which will fill out the line-up which will hail from Scotland, Ireland, the USA and Canada. They include Roddy Woomble from Idlewild, Skerryvore, Manran, Washington Irving, Iain Copeland's new project – Sketch featuring Maeve Mackinnon, Canadian duo Qristina & Quinn Bachand, and Irish representation from Beoga, and The Long Notes. More acts will be announced soon. Expect a line-up of music featuring top international artists set against the backdrop of the Gaelic culture and Hebridean heritage.

Festival Director, Caroline MacLennan, said, "We are delighted to reveal The Proclaimers and The Waterboys will be returning by popular demand. Both have been massive crowd-pleasers in the past and we look forward to seeing them again. We also have a lot of new acts appearing and are very pleased to be welcoming Kassidy to the event. We have concentrated on providing a wide range of choice for our festival-goers with exciting acts and a great deal more music than in past years.

"As well as a repeat of last year's successful second stage in the grounds of Lews Castle, we are extending the festival experience by nearly doubling the number of artists on the Friday and Saturday with festivities kicking off from 2pm on those days. With this new format and the excellent range of artists we have coming to play, we are greatly looking forward to staging a fantastic HebCelt in 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. As well as the music there's also a full programme of family entertainment, as well as a street arts programme with walkabout, workshops and fire shows.

Already early bird tickets have been snapped up by people from across Europe, USA and Canada. Tickets are priced at £70 or £55 for concessions for students and others. To buy tickets, click here.

This year 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.

Latest Updates