Vengaboys, the world-famous Eurodance band, have been announced as Eilean Dorcha Festival’s first 2023 headliner.
Since 2016, Eilean Dorcha Festival (EDF) has brought an annual celebration of music to a stretch of Benbecula’s machair.
Proudly billed as Scotland’s ‘Friendly Festival’, the event draws fans from all over Uist and the rest of the Hebrides – as well of plenty of visitors from the mainland.
And 2023’s EDF is set to be the festival’s most ambitious year yet.
“You asked for bigger bands,” said a post on the festival’s Facebook page, “and we’ve just secured the biggest party act on the planet!”
That’s right – from July 27-29, Vengaboys, the group behind hits like We Like to Party! and Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!are coming all the way to the Western Isles.
At first glance, Vengaboys might not be the obvious choice for EDF, which is known for its line-ups of Scottish traditional music, folk, and Celtic rock.
But for founder Roddy MacKay, they were the perfect choice.
“We thought, after lockdown and everything else that’s gone on over the past few years: how do we get everyone back into party mode?”
‘Everyone just started dancing’
To find out, 2022’s EDF ended with an experiment.
“When the acts had finished, we got the production company to play a few backing tracks, just to see what the reaction was.”
And when Vengaboys came on, “everyone came back and just started dancing”.
It was clear that Benbecula needed a visit from the Vengabus.
‘Let’s just give it a try’
“I thought, ‘let’s just give it a try and see what they say,” says Mr MacKay. “I contacted them, made them an offer – and they accepted.”
He “sold the island” to them, he says, telling them “where we where, what the island was like, how many people live here.”
After sending a photograph of EDF’s unique festival site, “they agreed to come and play”.
Mr MacKay says he is “delighted” that EDF will host such an iconic “feel-good band”.
Vengaboys have become known for playing outside of just the biggest festivals. Earlier this year, they performed to sell-out crowds at the MacMoray Festival in Elgin.
The announcement of the Vengaboys is local music fans’ first taste of what’s to come at EDF 2023.
There’s still a full line-up of other acts yet to be announced, no doubt with plenty more highlights.
“We’re going to release one [act name] a month up to Christmas,” says Mr MacKay.
“Quite a few” acts will then be announced during the festive season.
For EDF’s loyal fans, it will be a present worth waiting for.
More local reporting from the Western Isles:
- ‘We have to find a new way to operate’: How a North Uist social enterprise is facing the depopulation crisis
- Stronger together: New Western Isles Women in Business group aims to share support, advice and ideas
- ‘A new beginning’: How a South Uist photographer captured the birth of a Gaelic hub
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