Summer Music
Festival Season is nearly here.
Festival season starts for us this year on the 27th of May as we head up to The Gathering in Inverness. It’s new for us, and a one-day festival is an excellent way to start the season. This year the headliners are Tide Lines, our daughter’s favourite band.
She has seen a lot of live music in the last six years, even with the two-year covid break in the middle. Every single experience has been good, or at least had some highlights, and we’ve learned some lessons along the way.
We’ve always started with the attitude that we have to put her interests first and work within her limits. We’ve made it to the end of every headline show, from Runrig’s last show in Stirling when she was one year old to more shows every year at Celtic Connections. She’s hung in there until the last moment of the final encore, often falling asleep somewhere on me before the lights come up.
Festivals have a very different pace. We’ve missed bands we wanted to see at festivals because she was too tired to go on. But we’ve also been dragged back out of the tent after midnight to catch a band she particularly wanted to see. She made a good call. Niteworks were brilliant that night. Then power nap is vital for getting through the long days, and she has learned to sleep while sitting on my shoulders.
Doune the Rabbit Hole was probably her favourite festival last year, with the Tide Lines an easy win for her but not the highlight. She loves Daddy Cool by Boney M, and singing along to that was something we’ll never forget. She adored Optimo even if it caused arguments about ear defenders. We have a simple rule, if it is too loud to talk, she has to wear them, so time was split between ear defenders inside the tent and dancing without them outside.
Unfortunately, the festival booked such a fantastic lineup that they couldn’t afford to pay for the bands, and their cash constraints also limited the toilet provision. I’m not sure when we’ll ever get a family-friendly lineup with a strong lineup again.
Jupiter Rising at Jupiter Artland was a close second and a lovely little festival, and we will miss it this year, but hopefully, it will return in 2024. I was near sure that Kathryn Joseph would be a terrible match for a tent full of kids, but somehow it worked. Our favourite band was Poster Paints, but the water stole the show, both paddling in the Cells of Life and Swimming in the Gateway Pool.
The highlight of this year should be HebCelt in Stornoway. While this is our first time, many people we know love it, and many of our favourite bands are playing, including Niteworks, Kinnaris Quintet, Talisk, Peat & Diesel, and others.
Closer to home, there’s a new traditional festival called The Reeling at Rouken Glen Park in Glasgow. With a bit of Def Leppard to balance out all the traditional music and more Tide Lines at Queens Park, we’re looking forward to a great summer.