Wickerman Festival
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The Wickerman Festival is an annual music festival held near to Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed 'Scotland's Alternative Music festival', this year it will be held on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st of July. It began in 2002 when the festivals artistic director Sid Ambrose, whilst working with the Stewartry Music Initiative, hit upon the idea of a local counter-culture based family-friendly festival due to the surrounding area being inextricably linked to the locations used within the film. He took the idea to local farmer Jamie Gilroy, and by doing this, they ensured that the festival would eventually settle within a natural amphitheatre of 120 acres of prime Galloway grazing land at East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dundrennan.
Musically as well as creatively, the festival has been likened to a smaller version of Glastonbury with a widely eclectic mix of music to suit everyone. It has 8 stages and these include 2 main stages (Woodward & Summerisle) a world music and funk tent (Rowan), a reggae sound system, an acoustic village, a punk/ska/northern soul tent (Scooter), a new Scottish bands tent (Solus), several dance tents, as well as a children’s area, workshops, beer tent, crafts, a cinema, and much more.
Artists due to play this summer include Fun Lovin' Criminals, Hayseed Dixie, The Orb, The Negatives, The Targets, Cider Spiders, Modus, Darkwater, The Call, The Beat, The Rezillos, The Peatbog Faeries, The Yardbirds, Eat Static, Jah Wobble, Neck, Uniting The Elements, I Am Kloot, Skaville UK, Popup, The Low Miffs, The Kazoo Funk Orchestra, Miss The Occupier, Only Joe Kane, Saint Jude's, Infirmary, Miss King and the Cougars, John Langhan, Ardent John, Taiko Drummers, Andi Neate, Sally Campbell, Andy Lang & the Well, The Stompswampers, Sixpeopleaway, Copy Haho, Our Lunar Activities, Izu, How To Swim, Frightened Rabbit, Clean George IV, Dance Lazarus Dance!, and Y'all Is Fantasy Island.
Past artists have included:
2004 - Aereogramme, The Buzzcocks, The Selector, Spiritualized, Antiproduct, and The Levellers.
2005 - The Stranglers, Dreadzone, Alabama 3, Arthur Brown, Neville Staples, and Space Ritual.
2006 - The Alarm, New Model Army, The Aliens, Sandi Thom, and System 7.
The festival climaxes on the saturday night with the burning of a giant 30ft Wickerman.
It has been nominated for 2 festival awards: Best Cult Following 2005 & Best Grassroots Festival 2006
It's motto is FUN, FIRE, and FREEDOM.
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| The Wickerman Festival | |
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| Location(s) | Dundrennan, Scotland |
| Years active | 2002 - present |
| Date(s) | Third weekend of July |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Ska, Alternative rock, Northern Soul, Dance, Indie, World music, Punk, Reggae, Folk music. |
| Website | |
[edit] Charities
The Wickerman Festival supports the following charities:
- Tusk Trust
- The First Base Agency
- Crew 2000
