Running a music festival isn’t for the faint-hearted these days.
Some of the biggest names in the global music industry might perform in Scotland on a regular basis, but that doesn’t guarantee success for any event promoter.
There’s ferocious competition in a crowded marketplace with more than 1,000 music festivals in the UK every year vying for the public’s attention; double the figure of a decade ago.
Yet there are cases where promoters create something special which thrives whatever the economic climate, weather conditions or any other potential glitches.
This weekend, Carolanne and Donnie Murphy will return to Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival – the event they say turned their lives around, and which they have vowed to go to until their last breath.
It is not just the stellar line-up at the Beauly festival, which this year includes The Pretenders, with Chrissie Hynde, soul sisters Sister Sledge, Franz Ferdinand and Twin Atlantic, that makes the Murphys – and scores of others – go back time and time again.
Promoter Joe Gibbs believes there are a range of other factors that explain why “Bella” is thriving in otherwise stringent financial times.
“A festival has to have a soul to survive,” he said. “Belladrum is deeply founded in its own community and it is – and it always has been – a hell of a lot more than just a stage in a field.
“Around 60% of its audience come from the Highlands and the rest mostly from other areas of Scotland. It has grown very slowly and organnically over the years and it has become part of people’s lives.
“Marriages have been consecrated here, children have been christened Bella and, sadly, even ashes have been scattered here. There is a real connection between it and its community.
“People call us a mini-Glastonbury and it is not an idle comparison.
“Nothing is ever taken for granted. Bella reinvents and adds to the show every year while keeping the core of what works and what people love about the event.
“There are now 17 stages over a huge range of genres including theatre, comedy, discussion, poetry and much else.
“Its audience range from aged one to aged 90, from real musos to people who never see a band all weekend.
“The biggest complaint from our audience is that they can’t walk more than five paces without bumping into someone they know. That is a very different type of event to the big commercial beasts like T In The Park and others on the circuit.”
For Mrs Murphy and her husband – who have two children with complex health needs – the family-feel of the event is what makes it so special.
She said: “I was asked recently why I buy Belladrum tickets before the line-up is announced. The answer is I don’t really go for the line-up.
“Yes, the fact that bands who I like appear on the list adds to the excitement, but that isn’t why we go to it every year.
“In 2011, our two sons, Jaydon and Travis, both had complex health issues. Jaydon even stopped breathing on one occasion and required mouth-to-mouth.
“He was not even 18 months old; that was one of the scariest times in our lives and we have had a few of them.
“We were frightened to sleep or go out. It really was a time in our lives when we were super-stressed and how we ever came out the other side still astounds me.
“But then, a friend posted to me on Facebook about Belladrum and she told me how family-orientated it was and really sold it to me.
“Suddenly, on the spur of the moment, I announced we were going to it, no matter what. Luckily, we had a camper van we could borrow, so we went with oxygen and heaven knows what else.
“It was the best weekend we have ever had and we made a promise that weekend we would go every year, unless one of us died on the Wednesday before.”
Mrs Murphy, of Invergordon, described that weekend as a “turning point” where she realised “what would be would be”.
“It changed my mindset and way of thinking and probably saved me from a few dark places,” she said.
“Being in a field with 9,000 strangers would never be top of my list, but I feel calm, safe and almost free there.
“We don’t travel light whenever we go to Bella: we have a wheelchair and Travis (who has the genetic tissue disorder, Ehlers Danlos syndrome) is tube fed, so making his formula with a camp stove kettle and head torch in wellies makes me realise I must be slightly crazy.
“But that’s why it is special and why it is on our calendar every year along with Christmas, New Year and Easter.”
Loopallu is one of the biggest events in the Highlands and Islands, and yet it confirmed last week it will cease to continue after acts such as Glasvegas, The View, The Rezillos, Bombskare and Tide Lines, have played their sets during September 29 and 30.
Loopallu – or Ullapool in reverse – has enjoyed a positive reputation since it was launched in 2005 by north-based entrepreneur Rob Hicks. There have been no shortage of star names in its history, including the likes of Paolo Nutini, Franz Ferdinand, Mumford and Sons and Twin Atlantic.
But the event, which started at the Broomfield Holiday Park, on the banks of Loch Broom, was forced to change location to the harbour at Ullapool – which meant the crowd capacity had to be reduced – and now, the curtain is coming down imminently due to lack of accomodation.
The organisers said in a statement: “With a heavy heart, we have decided that our 13th outing is going to be our last.
“There is no time to be sad. Instead, it is time to celebrate what made Loopallu so special over the years. Time to celebrate how the little event with a big heart transformed a small west coast village at the end of the season, helping to bring in millions of pounds to the local economy, not to mention the priceless friendships it established.”
The news follows the demise of T in the Park – which was once the place to be for pop and rock aficionados at Balado every summer – and a number of other festivals including Rockness.
Stonehaven’s Open Air in the Square Hogmanay event also gained publicity when it attracted groups of the calibre of Simple Minds and The Human League to the north east town. But it folded, amid cash problems, and shows no signs of being revived.
A variety of factors have contributed to the success or failure of these high-profile music gatherings. In some instances, the festivals were blighted by negative publicity, or attendees grew fed up with standing knee-deep in mud. The quality of performer can be variable and sometimes, these events simply reach the end of their life cycle.
But Loopallu organisers are remaining defiant, planning one last hurrah, and maintained: “The whole team would like to say a big thank you to all those who have come over the years. Loopallu may come back in the future in a different guise, but, for now, let’s have a party one final time.”
The arts are constantly in flux and music is a pivotal ingredient of that equation. Belladrum’s Mr Gibbs added, the developing template for these events in Scotland might be “Small is Beautiful”.
He explained: “Running a festival is a risky business and a lot of festivals have come and gone over the 14 years since Bella began.
“We have seen a rise in festivals such as Groove Loch Ness, Groove Cairngorms, Skye Live, Jocktoberfest on the Black Isle and Northern Roots near Inverness, where the risks are smaller, because these kind of events are designed for limited audiences.
“The live music scene is constantly evolving. Audiences too are evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated.
“We firmly believe there will always be a place for these communities to come together for beautifully designed weekends of escapism and cultural enjoyment in wonderful settings.
“We hope we will still be around to provide that in the future.”
Around 20 years ago, T in the Park set the benchmark. But its organiser Geoff Ellis, of DF Concerts has confirmed it is “not looking likely” the music festival will take place in 2018.
It’s a far cry 1994 when 120,000 fans went to the inaugural festival at Strahclyde Country Park, near Glasgow, with Radiohead headlining.
Other acts on the bill included The Kooks, Belle and Sebastian and London Grammar and the scale of the attendance prompted the subsequent move to Balado.
But, despite its well-documented problems in recent summers, including drug-related deaths, alcohol-fuelled violence and inclement conditions, there is no despondency among those who run such innovative events as MoFest in Montrose, Enjoy Music in Aberdeen and Party at the Palace in Linlithgow.
As John Richardson, one of the catalysts for the latter festival in West Lothian, said: “It is a challenging climate and you should never get blase or take your audience for granted.
“You have to give them a reason to keep coming back. But, in my experience, if you work hard enough, you can definitely succeed.
“It’s very exciting that we have such a wide range of talent, from The Kaiser Chiefs and Amy Macdonald to Razorlight, Ash and Gok Wan.”
His words weren’t meant to dismiss the efforts of those whose festivals have folded, sometimes for reasons outwith their control.
But it seems the climate has changed, and that the likes of Bella really is beating the Drum for everybody else – not just in the north, but the whole of Scotland.