Belladrum Festival - Beauly near Inverness

For the first time, supposedly, Belladrum was sold out. Good weather helped to make it a great weekend. It was very much organised for kids and families as well as all other age groups and the campsite was split into different zones: General, Family and quiet so that not every area was 24 hour party (though to be honest, you couldn't say there was a truly quiet area).

(From the tinniest stage)

(To the largest)

As well as a wide array of musical styles to listen to, there were masses of other entertainment facilities including bronco rides and bouncy castles. Food and drink in general were not cheap though I noticed after the Friday, some stalls had reduced their prices by a pound (£). I wasn't impressed with the need to queue to convert your money into tokens which enabled you to buy alcohol. The queues were horrendous and not nearly enough places to convert your money. There may have been an obvious reason to the organisers for the need to do this (maybe the barstaff are numerically challenged or just not trusted to handle cash) but it is something that should be improved on.

The other grumble I think a few folk had was the lack of security staff to check bags when entering the festival area. On one occassion we were going in, there was one guy checking the bags and it didn't take long for the single queue to build. At Eurockeenes, there were lined metal barriers which were manned by staff at each, so there were multiple queues passing through. But this should definately not stop anyone from contemplating going. Keep in mind that the car parking is quite a distance from the campsite, and like Eurockeenes, you can end up walking quite a distance to carry your gear.

Anyway, less talk, more photos. Brilliant event. Hope to go again.